Barbequed 'Gators
by Age of the Geek Baby
Summary: When Sirius fell through the Veil, Remus failed to stop Harry from going after him. In a new world, what trials will the two face as Harry searches for his godfather. And just how involved will they become in the hunt for the Cube and the Autobots' war?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own, period. If I owned either Transformers or Harry Potter, I would be driving a yellow Camaro with racing stripes.  
Warnings: Language, AU, OOC

A/N: This is another crossover idea that the plot bunnies in my mind came up with. This fic follows the movie from the very beginning, and a lot of the dialogue comes straight from the movie, but that is for mostly the first half. If you recognize a lot of the dialogue, that is because it comes from the movie. I do not own it, at all. The prologue is a direct quote from the opening of Transformers.

Word Count: 3,945  
Published: 26 July 2009  
Status: In progress, 1 of 4/5?**_

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**_Prologue:_**

_Before time began, there was the Cube._

_We know not where it comes from, only that it holds the power to create worlds and fill them with life._

_That is how our race was born._

_For a time, we lived in harmony, but like all great power, some wanted it for good, others for evil._

_And so began the war, a war that ravaged our planet until it was consumed by death, and the Cube was lost to the far reaches of space._

_We scattered across the galaxy, hoping to find it and rebuild our home, searching every star, every world._

_And just when all hope seemed lost, message of a new discovery drew us to an unknown planet called...__Earth._

_But we were already too late._

_-Optimus Prime, Transformers(2007)-_

_**Chapter One:**_

**Qatar- The Middle East**

Sitting amongst the soldiers, Sirius quietly listened to them talk. They had found him in the desert on their latest mission. It wasn't hard for him to fake amnesia for the majority of their questions. He really had no idea how he had ended up in the desert. And since he didn't have his wand, he figured that it was better to make friends than to try and put up a fight. Even though he had been introduced to all of them, he only remembered three of them. Lennox, Fig, and Epps. Listening to Fig and Epps talk, he couldn't stop himself from grinning.

"Oh, God, five months of this. I can't wait to get a little taste of home. A plate of mama's alligators etoufee." Sirius grin turned into an amused smirk. He could practically hear the man drooling.

"You've been talking about barbecued 'gators and crickets for the last two weeks. I'm never going to your mama's house, Fig. I promise." Snorting softly, Sirius knew that he would have agreed at one point, but that had been before he had lived off of rats and garbage for nearly a year. Barbecued 'gator and crickets sounded appetizing compared to some of the things he had been forced to eat.

"But Bobby, Bobby, 'gators are known to have the most succulent meat." Shaking his head, Sirius wondered if the two had this same argument before.

"I understand." They definitely had the same argument before.

Listening to Fig speak in Spanish, he wondered if he should make an effort to learn the language. Hearing Epps speak in mock Spanish, Sirius gave a particularly mischievous smile as he decided that it would be worth the effort to learn the language just for the aggravation value.

"English, please. English." Sirius sat back for what looked like a good argument, but Lennox chose that moment to intervene.

"English. I mean, how many times have we... We don't speak Spanish. I told you that."

"Why you got to ruin it for me, man? That's my heritage." Sirius gave an amused smile as Fig abruptly switched back to Spanish. Lennox's tired look and response told him that this wasn't the first time, nor would it be the last, that he had asked Fig to speak in English.

"Okay. Go with the Spanish. Whatever." Another soldier with glasses, sitting next to him quickly entered the conversation and changed the subject.

"Hey, you guys remember weekends? Huh? The Sox at Fenway. Cold hot dog and a flat beer." All the talk about food was starting to make him hungry. Sirius idly wondered how long it would be before he was able to get something to eat when they finally landed. He was startled when Fig suddenly invited him into the conversation.

"Perfect day. Black, you got a perfect day?" Thinking about it, Sirius came up with two answers.

"Yeah. Running wild with my friends before Pettigrew betrayed us and got my best friend and his wife killed. That used to be my perfect day. Now though, my perfect day would be spending time with my godson. Take Prongslet out and just spend the day doing anything and everything he wants. Of course, Lily probably would have killed me and James would have funded the entire thing if they were still around." Sighing, Sirius wondered how Harry was doing. When he had fallen through the Veil, the look of absolute terror in wide emerald eyes had broken his heart. That was the last thing he had seen before he found himself being shaken awake in a desert.

As if sensing his dark thoughts, Fig turned the focus onto Lennox. "What about you, Captain? You got a perfect day?"

Seeing the goofy smile, Sirius had an idea what the man was going to say before he said it. "Ahh, I just can't wait to hold my baby girl for the first time."

He was right. James had worn that same look as he thought about holding his son when he was born. Hell, he had probably had that same look when he thought about holding his newborn godson. The good natured taunts and Lennox's response had Sirius grinning again. The man was definitely a first time father.

"He's adorable."

"That's too cute."

"Shut up!"

When they finally landed, Sirius decided that he really liked the group of soldiers that had found him. The base commander didn't do more than order him to listen to Lennox's orders, preoccupied with dealing with a more serious problem than the lost British man with amnesia, no pun intended. After getting him something to eat, Lennox dropped him off with Epps so he could go and speak with his wife and see his baby girl. The man was practically giddy with excitement, not that Sirius blamed him. Every time he had visited his godson, before he had wound up in Azkaban, he had been giddy with excitement.

As night fell, Sirius followed Epps to where he would sleep for the night when there was a sudden swarm of activity as armed soldiers moved to surround a helicopter that just landed. The sudden sound of weapons going off had Sirius on his guard. When Epps took off in a sprint, Sirius was right on his heels. He might not be able to do much, but he would do what he could.

"They bombed the antenna farm. We're under attack."

Seeing Lennox trying to help a kid get under cover, he grabbed the kid, freeing Lennox to fire at the mechanical monster that was destroying the base. Ducking under a tank with the kid, he took a closer look at what was attacking them. It was nothing like he had ever seen. Nothing real anyway. It actually kinda reminded him of the muggle 'anime', _Gundam Wing_.

The robotic suits piloted by teenage kids, although vastly different to what he was actually looking at, still reminded him of what was currently blowing things up. The main difference that he could place was that the robot was living, sentient. It was not being 'piloted' by something or someone else. Sirius was suddenly very grateful that Harry wasn't there with him. The poor boy had enough problems dealing with Voldemort. He didn't need to deal with giant alien robots in a different world as well.

**Department of Mystery, London, England**

Terror gripping his heart, Harry watched in horror as Sirius fell through the Veil. He didn't even realize he had screamed, or that he was moving until he felt someone try to grab him. He yanked away from their grasp and darted towards the Veil, his hand reaching out in a desperate attempt to grab his godfather. His fingers had barely brushed the fluttering material when a sensation that was like a cross between Floo and a Portkey gripped him. The last thing he heard before everything went black was someone screaming his name.

**Washington, D.C.**

"Steve." Shaking the man's hand, Keller turned his attention to the large group of people that had been gathered.

"Hello Mr. Secretary." He barely registered the greeting as he scanned the various faces of those that were waiting for him to speak. It would seem that today would be one of those days that he felt even older than he was.

"They're so young." And they were. Some of the faces he saw belonged to young men and woman that looked like they had just started college. Looking out at the sea of faces, Keller found himself almost wishing he wasn't standing where he was. Some of them were far too young.

"They're the top subject matter experts, sir. NSA's recruiting right out of high school these days." That comment didn't make Keller feel any better about the speech he was about to give.

Fiddling with her necklace, Maggie wondered why so many analysts had been gathered. "Guys, that's the Secretary of Defense."

Looking over, Maggie had a sinking feeling that why they had been gathered was for something far more serious than an effort to try and recruit more analysts into some program or other.

"I am so under dressed." Silently, Maggie agreed. She was feeling under dressed herself.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Secretary of Defense." Taking his cue, Keller moved to stand in front of the podium as the gathered group stood up.

"Please be seated." Looking out over the group as they sat, Keller knew that his speech should be straight to the point. The matter was serious and he wasn't about to mince his words when they could possibly be on the brink of war.

"I'm John Keller. Obviously, you're wondering why you're here, so these are the facts. At 1900 local time yesterday, the SOCCENT Forward Operations Base in Qatar was attacked. So far as we know, there were no survivors. The objective of the attack was to hack our military network.

We're not sure exactly what they're after, but we do know they were cut off during the assault, which would lead us to assume that they're going to try it again. Now, no ones taken responsibility for the attack. And the only real lead we have so far is this sound." Turning slightly, Keller pointed at the screens and stayed silent as the strange sound was played for everyone to hear.

Sitting up slightly, Maggie found herself wondering what could have destroyed an entire base. Not to mention hacking their network. The technology had to be advanced, as had the weapons. As far as she knew, there was no one out there with that kind of capabilities. Hearing the strange sound, Maggie found herself not quite able to describe it. It was nothing like she had ever heard before. If she had to describe it, it was as if it was a mechanical scratching screech, and that didn't even properly describe it. Whatever the sound was, it was distinctively unique and Maggie was confident that she would recognize it if she ever heard it again. She had to recognize it. The least she could do for the families of the various soldiers that had died in the base attack was help to find who was responsible for it.

"That's the signal that hacked our network. NSA's working at full capacity to analyze it and intercept further communications, but we need you help to find out who did this. Now, you've all shown considerable ability in the area of signals analysis. We're on a hair-trigger here, people. The President has dispatched battle groups to the Arabian Gulf and Yellow Sea. This is as real as it's ever gonna get. Now I'm gonna leave you to your officer-in-charge. You'll break up into teams and you'll start your work. Good luck to us all." His speech over, Keller prepared himself for having to address the nation in just a few hours.

He could only hope that survivors would be found, even if just to spare a few families the pain of losing a loved one. As he readied himself to speak before a camera, Keller silently prayed that another base wouldn't be attacked, and if one was, he hoped that they would be able to defend themselves. This was one of the days he really felt decades older than he was.

**Qatar- The Middle East**

Resting against what seemed to be an abandoned tank, Sirius wiped at the sweat that trickled down the back of his neck. Listening to the soldiers talk, Sirius got a sinking feeling when Fig spoke about his 'mama' having 'the gift', and how he had the gene too. He may not be a Seer, but Sirius knew to take Fig seriously. His godson was the subject of a prophecy, he knew better than to ignore another person's premonitions. When he heard Epps say that the radio was fried, Sirius felt a chill go down his spine. Things were going to get bad.

"Mahfouz. How far do you live from here?"

"Not far. Just over that mountain." Sirius snorted quietly. It really wasn't that far, but he knew from experience that things could go straight to hell in moments. He could only hope that they would reach the village before something happened.

"Do they have a phone?"

"Yes."

"Alright boys, let's hit it."

Getting to his feet, Sirius once again found himself grateful that Harry wasn't here with him. His godson really didn't need to deal with any more shit than he already was. Then again, Harry may have found this to be a better alternative than dealing with Voldemort.

**Pentagon- National Military Command Center**

"Hey, guys, I think the other team figured it out. Iran."

"Come on, man. This is way too smart for Iranian scientists. Think about it."

Staring at her screen, Maggie dismissed what the two were talking about. What she was looking at was something she had never seen before. It was completely different to anything she had ever seen.

"What do you think, kid? Chinese?"

"No way. This is nothing like what the Chinese are using." Eyes skimming her monitor, Maggie stared, hoping that it would somehow make sense to her the longer she looked at it.

**Air Force One**

Cautiously, Frenzy transformed and moved out from beneath the seat he had hidden under. Stupid humans. It was so annoying having to move about cautiously. Reaching the elevator, Frenzy cursed quietly when he noticed one of the irritating maggots entering the elevator. He quickly shifted back into his alt form.

The annoying fleshling picked him up. As soon as she put him down, he shifted again. Once the human was gone, Frenzy moved towards the bank of computers. He needed to find the location for the All Spark. Connecting to the network, Frenzy began his search for anything that would lead him to Megatron or to the Cube.

**Pentagon- National Military Command Center**

Tugging her headphones on properly, Maggie wondered if she was hearing things. "Do you hear that?" Noticing that the others seemed to be hearing it as well, Maggie held the headphones closer.

"Are you getting this? I think they're hacking the network again." Staring at the screen, Maggie saw the words, 'Foreign Signal Detected'. The network _was_ being hacked again.

**Air Force One**

Performing a network search, Frenzy found Project Iceman. Hopefully the files would contain the information he was looking for. They needed to get the All Spark before the Autobots got their slaggin' hands on it.

**Pentagon- National Military Command Center**

"Oh, my God. This is a direct match to the signal in Qatar. Are you running a diagnostic?" Studying the signal that was displayed on the screen, Maggie felt her heart begin to race. This was like nothing she'd ever seen before.

"Should I be?" If she hadn't been so busy studying the signal and tyring to trace where it was coming from, she might have given a more sarcastic answer than she did.

"Yes, you should."

"So I am." At least she didn't need to worry about that anymore and could fully focus on tracing where the signal was hacking into the network.

**Air Force One**

It was only a matter of moments for him to find what he was looking for. Immediately, he began to download everything connected to Sector Seven's Project Iceman. As he downloaded the files, he began to upload a virus.

**Pentagon- National Military Command Center**

Finding out where the signal was coming from, Maggie was on her feet calling for help. "Someone! They're hacking into Air Force One! We need a senior analyst."

Sitting back in her chair, Maggie quickly spoke.

"I think they're planting a virus."

"A virus?" Hadn't she just said that.

"It's streaming right now." Focusing back on the screen, Maggie was almost baffled.

"They are planting a virus and stealing a whole lot of data from your system at the same time."

"Code Red. We have a breach." They definitely had a breach, and the technology being used to do so had to be far beyond anything currently being used.

"You got to cut the hardlines."

"What?"

"Whatever they want, they are getting it." And there was nothing she could do to even try to stop it. It was moving too fast. The only chance they had of stopping it was cutting it off from the system entirely.

"Sir? Permission to take down the Defense Network."

"Cut all server hard lines now." Hearing the command repeated, Maggie stared at her screen in slight shock. What they were dealing with was far too complex for anything she had seen on Earth. Staring at the screen, Maggie wondered if they would be able to deal with what was behind the hackings.

**Air Force One**

He was almost done downloading all the files when suddenly he was disconnected from the network. Staring at the screen, he cursed before banging his head against it. Frenzy wasn't given much time to vent his frustrations though as humans swarmed into the area. Moving out of the way of a bullet, he quickly took down the two humans that were firing on him. It wasn't time for them to find out about their existence just yet. With the few seconds he had bought, he quickly transformed into his alt mode and watched as more humans scurried past him in an effort to find the intruder that had hacked their system.

His search wasn't a total waste. He had found a file about a man that had seen their language. A Captain Witwicky. He had also managed to upload a virus that would eventually cripple the humans' system. Processing the information he had retrieved, Frenzy waited for the plane to land. Barricade would be waiting to pick him up once they had landed.

**Pentagon- National Military Command Center**

Stalking down the hallway, Keller made sure his orders were understood. They're top priority, they're only priority, was to secure the President. Only after the President was secure would he deal with anything else.

**Air Force One**

As soon as the plane landed, Frenzy carefully moved down the landing gears, scurrying over to Barricade as quickly as he could. The human insects didn't even notice him, too busy trying to secure the plane and its passengers. Ducking into the passenger seat of Barricade, Frenzy twitched sporadically. Slaggin' human computer viruses, messing with his systems. Quickly surfing the web, Frenzy found the item they needed on eBay. A pair of glasses held the location of the All Spark and were being sold on the website. A few keystrokes later, he had the information needed to find the human that had them.

"We must find Ladiesman217."

**Tranquility**

Groaning, Harry slowly opened his eyes, wincing in pain as he tried to sit up. After what felt like an eternity, he finally managed to get himself into a sitting position, only to groan as he noticed his surroundings. He was in some kind of rundown building, possibly a warehouse. It was night, but he was able to pick up the slightly muffled sound of a train. Given how close it was, he knew he was at least near the tracks, if not at some kind of train station or yard. Ignoring how his body ached, Harry forced himself to his feet and stumbled almost drunkenly to an opening that seemed to lead outside.

Staggering, he latched onto a nearby pole to keep from falling. Looking around, he blinked in surprise as he saw something large standing up and sending out some kind of signal into the sky. What really bothered him though was that he could sense something from the direction of the giant robot thing. Hearing barking dogs, as well as someone running, he forced himself to start moving away from the sound. Which unfortunately, led him back into the very warehouse he had just left. He was just starting to wonder if he should start panicking when an empty yellow Camaro came to a stop in front of him after chasing away the two dogs that had cornered a teenager. The driverless car was also the source of the warm presence he had sensed earlier.

Knees threatening to give out under him, he slumped against the car, not caring at the moment that he had no idea what it was. As soon as he touched the vehicle, a tingling sensation swept through him. It felt like what happened whenever he touched someone with magic, only much more powerful. Catching a glimpse of flashing lights and the sound of sirens, Harry once more fought against his exhaustion and stumbled as quietly away as he could, ignoring the sensation that the car was watching him go. He rather not talk to anyone until he at least had a vague idea of where he was and what was going on. Especially since the voices he heard, while speaking in English, were not British. Wherever he was, he was most definitely far from home.

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A/N: I hope that you have enjoyed. I have the majority of this fic finsihed, but I need to add various scenes into each chapter. It will most likely be posted with only four or five chapters, but each chapter will be several thousand words long. For those that have read 'WSTASOCC?', I haven't given up on it, but it is on hold while I do some research. The next chapter will have a lot more Sirius and Harry in it than this one. It is rather difficult to break it up into chapters. Well, I hope you've enjoyed, and reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading and/or reviewing.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: See first chapter.  
Warnings: Language, AU, OOC

A/N: I just saw Revenge of the Fallen and my mind has exploded with plot bunnies. I'm already sketching out ideas for a sequel for this story even as I add the last finishing touches that will make this fic complete. Well, I don't really have anything else I want to say, so read and enjoy.

Word Count: 5,600  
Published: 27 July 2009  
Status: In progress, 2 of 4/5?**_

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**_Chapter Two:_**

**Pentagon- National Military Command Center**

The President was secure, that meant he could now deal with the problem that had led to Air Force One making an emergency landing as well as the cause for cutting server hardlines. This was going to be a very long night. "Whoever did this finally managed to infiltrated our defense network, which is what they tried to do in Qatar, only this time it worked."

"What did they get?"

"We still don't know." Damn, this was going to be an even longer night. Shoving his thoughts to back of his mind, Keller focused back on the issue at hand.

"Tell me about the virus."

"It's a Spider-bot virus. We're not sure what it's going to do, but it may cripple the system." Resisting the urge to curse, Keller asked a question he was already fairly sure of what the answer would be.

"Can we stop it?"

"Every time we try an anti-virus, it adapts and speeds up. It's like it's not a virus anymore. It's become the system." A simple no would have sufficed, but Keller didn't comment as he pondered that. He may not be a computer whiz like the younger generations, but he knew enough to know that viruses were not supposed to be able to do that. He was not going to be getting much sleep.

Walking down the hallway, Maggie caught sight of Keller and knew she needed to share her theory. Seeing the man tapping on the glass, she held up a finger to buy some time. Catching what Brigham was saying, Maggie knew this was the perfect time to make her presence known.

"Obviously the first phase of a major attack against the US. The only countries with this kind of capabilities are Russia, North Korea, maybe China."

"I'm sorry, that's not correct."

"Excuse me, young lady. I didn't see you standing there. You would be who?" As one of the military officers tried to escort her out the room, she spoke up and hoped that she would be asked to stay because she was the one to detect the signal.

"I'm just the analyst who detected the hack." As Keller stood up, Maggie knew that it had worked.

"Hold on. It was you? You did it?"

"Her team." No, she had been the one that had found the signal, but her team had helped in finding it. But now wasn't the time to point that out, nor was she a glory hound.

"Sir, I was just trying to say, they hacked your firewall in ten seconds. Okay. Even a supercomputer with a brute force attack would take twenty years to do that." And what she said was true. Any hacker knew that getting past the firewall undetected was not going to happen. If they were to eve manage it, they wouldn't be able to do it in only ten seconds.

"Maybe you can explain, then, how our latest satellite imagery shows North Korea doubling its naval activity."

"Maybe it's a precaution, because isn't that what we're doing?"

Staring at the young blonde woman, Keller found himself inclined to take her seriously. Her response to Brigham had been a logical observation. They themselves were taking every precaution they could until they knew more. It would be stupid of them not to consider the possibility that other countries would take precautionary measures of their own, since it looked like they were preparing to go to war.

"The signal pattern is learning. It's evolving on its own. And you need to move past Fourier transfers, an-and start considering quantum mechanics."

"There is nothing on Earth that complex."

"What about an organism? A living organism? Maybe some kind of DNA-based computer? And I know that that sounds crazy..."

Holding up his hands, Keller interrupted her. "That's enough. That's enough. We have six floors of analysts working on this thing. Now, if you can find proof to back up your theory, I'm gonna be happy to listen to you. But if you don't get a filter on that brain-mouth thing, you're gonna be off the team. You understand?"

Staring into her blue eyes, Keller could tell that she thought he wasn't taking her seriously. He was, but she needed to provide proof to back up her theory. Hopefully, if she did find a way to prove her theory, she would know to have proof the next time she offered up a theory as outlandish as the one she just spoke of. As Keller motioned for her to be led from the room, he wondered if she fully understood what she was implying. A DNA-based computer, living technology. If her theory turned out to be right, Keller knew that they wouldn't be dealing with anything on Earth, but aliens. This was going to be a very long night, and until he was provided with proof of her theory, he was going to push all thoughts of living alien computers to the back of his mind.

**Qatar- Middle East**

"Let's hope this telephone line works." With the village just in sight, Sirius couldn't help but agree with Lennox's sentiment. When he heard Fig shouting a heads up, dread clung to his spine in an icy grip. Whatever had caused the tower to fall, meant that their luck had just run out.

Epps shout of surprise had Sirius whirling around just in time to see Lennox narrowly avoid being stabbed through the back. Sand flew as the soldiers opened fire on an enemy they couldn't really see. For a moment, silence fell as Lennox ordered for quiet. It was long enough for the sand to settle and Sirius to see a giant robotic scorpion skewer one of the soldiers on its tail. Scrambling in the sand, Sirius sprinted as best as he could in the sand. Once again helping the small boy to keep up so Lennox had his hands free. Reaching the village, he quickly found some cover near Fig, Lennox taking the kid to find his father and a phone. Hearing Lennox shouting, Sirius tried not wince as even more explosions occurred. He had more sensitive hearing thanks to Padfoot, and while it usually was a nice perk, it did have its drawbacks.

"I need a credit card. Epps, where's your wallet?"

"Pocket!"

"Which pocket?"

"My back pocket!"

"You got ten back pockets!"

"Left cheek! Left cheek! Left cheek!"

Glancing over at Lennox, Sirius gave a sympathetic wince. He may not completely understand why the man needed a credit card, but it was clear that he needed it in order to call for help, and that he believed it was an unneeded waste of time.

**Pentagon- National Military Command Center**

"Give me a status."

"Sir, we're tracking a Special Ops team under fire in Qatar. They say they're survivors of the base attack."

"Survivors?" Keller nearly spoke the word with disbelief. If they were survivors, hopefully they would be able to give them a clue as to what had attacked the base. And there would be a few less grieving families.

"I ain't never seen this in my life! Need gunships on station ASAP!"  
"Predator's coming up in a minute."

"We're linking the call to the nearest AWACS."

"Unknown, man. I don't... Man, if you seen this shit..."

"Predator ETA two minutes."

Standing silently, Keller stared at the screens and waited for an image. When they finally did have an image of what was attacking the base survivors, Keller found himself at a loss. "What is that?"

"I don't know."

The image wasn't pristine, but what Keller could see, he didn't like. Whatever the thing was, it was heavily armed, and packed a lot of fire power. It wouldn't take long for it to completely destroy the buildings that were there.

"We need air support and we need it now. Roll in strike package Bravo on unknown target. I authenticate Tango Whiskey at time 0300 Zulu."

**Qatar- Middle East**

Studying the thing, his first thought of it looking like a scorpion was accurate. It really did look like a scorpion, except for the small matters of it being a mechanical monstrosity and the missiles it was firing. Noticing the orange smoke, and hearing Lennox's order to 'laze target', Sirius hoped that whatever was coming would be more effective than the bullets that they were currently shooting at it. Never before had he wished for a wand more than in that moment. He would like to see how it would have lasted against a blasting hex, or even an Incendio.

**Pentagon- National Military Command Center**

"Did we lose them?" Watching the screen, Keller waited for a visual confirmation. The sooner the threat disappeared, the sooner they could get their men to safety. Hearing the request for a medic, Keller frowned grimly.

"Bring them home. You get those men stateside right now. I want them debriefed in ten hours." The sooner they were home and debriefed, the sooner they would have a clue as to what had attacked their base, and maybe even have a clue for what they had been looking for. It would also be even sooner for the survivors to contact their loved ones and at least let them know they were alive.

**Qatar- Middle East**

Cursing, he dove out of the way as a stray missile blew up a little too close for comfort. Ignoring the ringing in his ears, he looked around for Fig, eyes widening as he saw the downed man. Crawling towards him, he put to use the small amount of muggle first aid he knew, courtesy of Lily. Putting pressure to the wound, he stared into pained brown eyes.

"Hey man, don't even think you can bloody well die on me. How the hell am I gonna help you feed barbecue 'gators and crickets to Epps if you aren't around? 'Sides, I need you to teach me Spanish." Continuing to keep pressure on the gaping wound, Sirius kept up the one sided conversation, relieved that Fig was focusing on his voice to keep conscious. Hearing Lennox shouting Fig's name, Sirius raised his voice to get the man's attention.

"Over here! We're over here." Sirius didn't move until the medic pushed him aside. Keeping out of the way, he made himself useful by helping to grab the broken piece of tail. The scorpion was no where in sight, but Sirius was relieved that the thing was injured and unlikely to show up again.

It wasn't long before Sirius found himself helping to carry Fig as Lennox flagged down the helicopter. Sirius tried not to think about what would be waiting for him once they arrived in the States. Even though he wasn't a soldier, let alone American, he would still be accompanying Lennox's team as they were flown back to the States to be debriefed. He could only hope that Sirius Black was not a wanted murderer in this world, for he was positive that he was in another world. After all, he wasn't dead even though he had fallen through the 'Veil of Death'.

**Pentagon- National Military Command Center/ Glen's House**

Slipping a memory chip into her computer, Maggie made a copy of the signal. Keller wanted proof, she would get him proof. "There's only one hacker in the world who can break this code." She murmured the words softly to herself. What she was about to do would not end well if she wasn't able to provide Keller with proof.

Pulling out her make-up, she discretely tucked the memory chip into it. As soon as she had it, she left under the pretense of taking a lunch break. As soon as she was out, she hailed a cab and made her way to Glen's house.

Paying the cab drive, Maggie quickly got out and hurried up to the front door. As soon as it opened and revealed Glen, she started speaking. "I am sorry to bother you."

"Maggie?"

"Listen, I need your help."

"No! This is my private area, my place of Zen and peace." She knew he wasn't going to be happy.

"Listen to me."

"Glen! Who is it?"

"Shut up, Grandma!" So much for this being his place of Zen and peace.

"What are you doing here?"

"Just give me a break, will you, please?" Holding up her make-up case, Maggie tried not to think about how much trouble she was going to be in. Someone had to notice that she had made a copy of the signal.

"Grandmama! Drink your prune juice!"

Smiling despite the situation, Maggie quickly followed Glen into his room. His cousin was playing DDR.

"Oh! What level are you on, man?"

"Six."

"Oh, here come the matrix! Here come the matrix!" Taking a seat, Maggie leaned forward holding up her make-up case as she spoke.

"Glen, seriously, don't you want to see something classified?" That got his attention, and in moments Glen had his cousin leaving his room with only the request that he save his game. Once they were alone, he turned his full attention onto her.

"How classified?"

"Like 'I will go to jail for the rest of my life for showing you' classified."

"Yes! One quick peek." Amused at how excited he was, Maggie leaned forward so she could better see the monitor and hoped that Glen would be able to break the code.

**Pentagon- National Military Command Center**

"Special Ops got a thermal snapshot of whatever hit the base in Qatar." That had to be some of the best news he heard all day after learning that there were survivors.

"I want to see it."

"Well, the imager was damaged, sir." Of course it was, but Keller wouldn't complain. There were survivors, and the fact that they had an image was better than nothing.

"The rangers are en route with the imager, but we also have a security issue."

"Circle logs indicate one of the analysts made a copy of the network intrusion signal." Sighing, Keller had a fairly good idea of who it was. A certain blonde young lady he had asked to provide proof was probably behind the breach of security. At least she had determination and guts. When this was over, he seriously needed to consider retiring.

**Glen's Residence**

"The signal strength is through the roof. Where did you say you got this?"

Perched on a chair, Maggie stared at the signal that had caused such chaos. "It hacked the national military air-guard frequency in less than a minute."

"No way."

"Yeah." That was her reaction as well. As a hacker, Glen was able to grasp just how serious and impossible a concept it was.

"Looks like there's a message embedded in the signal. Let me work my magic." Hearing those words, Maggie perked up. It looked like Glen would be able to help her after all. Seeing something pop up, Maggie frowned. She had been looking for answers, not more questions.

"'Project Iceman'?"

"What's Sector Seven?"  
"Who is Captain Witwicky?"

"Shh." Before she could ask why Glen was hushing her, his grandmother appeared.

"Are you playing those video games again?" The elderly woman had barely finished speaking when a door being broken open could be heard as well as shouts.

"Cops! Cops!"

"FBI! Clear right!"

Suddenly, armed men swarmed into the room, prompting Glen to start screaming as a light was shined directly in his face.

Grunting as she was roughly handcuffed, Maggie silently cursed herself. She should have known that they would send FBI agents to retrieve her and the copy she had made.

"Get off my Grandmama's carpet! She don't like nobody on the carpet! Especially police!" At least Glen was freaking out too badly about being arrested if he was shouting at them to get of the carpet.

**Tranquility**

Staring up the truck's undercarriage, Harry wondered just how many times he had narrowly avoided death in his short existance. There was the night his parents were murdered, the troll in first year, Fluffy, his encounter with Quirrel and Voldemort, that wasn't including his run in with Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest. He wouldn't count that one though, since he couldn't be sure that Voldemort would have killed him. Then his second year he nearly died when crashing into the Whomping Willow, his run in with Aaragog and his children, that one probably at least counted as two, and then when he fought the Basalisk. That had to count as three, since he was nearly crushed before he ran into the Basalisk, and than the giant snake had almost glared him to death not to mention being bitten. Fawkes saved him from dying then. Plus Dobby, he couldn't forget the eccentric house elf. The elf had nearly killed him with that bludger.

Third year, he avoided death three times. Once, when the Dementors swarmed the Quidditch field and he had fallen off his broom, a second time when he nearly had his soul sucked out by Dementors, and because of the time travel, he wasn't sure if he should count his encounter with Moony once or twice. Fourth year, he had a lot of near death experiences. The Triwizard Tournament counted at least three times. The Hungarian Horntail, having to swim to the bottom of the lake, and encountering the giant spider as well as blast-ended skwert. He'd have to add another near death experience just for having to deal with Hagrid's skwerts. It certainly felt like he was courting death everytime he had to care for them. Then came Voldemort's resurrection. He avoided death several times with each killing curse he dodged. Plus his encounter with the fake Moody.

And this last year, he avoided having his soul sucked out during the summer. The run in with the cenetaurs and Grawp, although he maybe shouldn't count that one, then again maybe he should. The battle in the Department of Mysteries definitely counted, since he was fairly sure he ducked at least two spells that would have killed him. And he could always count his trip through the Veil as well, since it really could have led to his death.

So, one near death experience before he started Hogwarts. Three for his first year, maybe four if he counted the Devil's Snare or the chess game. At least four for his second year, possibly five or six. Third year, if he counted his double encounter with Moony as one, his total came to three. Fourth year, he had three for sure, plus at least another four. Fifth year, his total came to at least four. That would bring his total of near death experiences to a minimum of twenty-two. And if he added the last few minutes, he had nearly died a grand total of twenty-three times.

He was brought out of his morbid train of thought about how many times he had flirted with death when two bright blue 'eyes' looked down at him from a metal face. Blinking, Harry suddenly realized that he was no longer underneath a truck, but staring up at a giant robot being thing. He could also sense its concern through its warm presence.

"Are you injured?" The deep rumbling voice, although slightly gruff, definitely had a hint of concern in it, so he wasn't imagining things.

Closing his eyes, he slowly counted to ten before opening them again. The robot was still there. He really wasn't hallucinating. Sighing he carefully sat up. When he found Sirius, he was going to punch the man. It was entirely his fault that he was even counting how many near death experiences he had. Well, it wasn't entirely Sirius' fault. It was mostly Voldemort's. But since he doubted he would run into Voldemort, he couldn't deck the evil megalomaniac, which left him with Sirius once he found the man.

Eyes widening, Harry suddenly burst out laughing. He wouldn't have to deal with Voldemort unless the Dark Lord followed him through the Veil. And considering the fact that Voldemort seemed determined not to die, the Dark Lord was unlikely to follow him through the Veil, especially if he thought he was dead. So, after decking his godfather, he would give the man a hug. Giant alien robots seemed like a vast improvement compared to dealing with Voldemort and the unwanted title of 'Saviour of the Wizarding World'. A definite improvement from having to deal with his fame and the double standard the Wizarding World had for him.

Staring down at the laughing human, Ironhide wondered if his appearance had caused the teenager to have a mental breakdown. The little human had suddenly appeared in front of him, barely giving him enough time to slam on the brakes. Afraid he had killed the human, he quickly transformed. The human was lying flat on his back, seemingly dazed as he stared at something he couldn't see. A quick scan revealed that the human was alive, and seemingly uninjured, but he wasn't a medic.

"Are you injured?" He asked the question as soon as he realized that the human was looking at him. The bright green eyes went wide before closing. He was beginning to worry that the boy had passed out when the stunning green orbs were revealed again and the little human let out a sigh before sitting up. When he started to laugh suddenly, Ironhide really began to wonder if the boy had hit his head and required medical attention. That or his appearance had caused the small human to have some kind of mental breakdown. Just as suddenly as the boy started laughing, he stopped.

Realizing that it had been at least ten minutes since he had first slammed on his brakes, Ironhide was torn on what he should do. He needed to meet up with the others, but he couldn't just leave the possibly injured human. His guilt at being responsible for his injuries was only intensified when he realized that the boy was nothing more than a youngling. Coming to a decision, he quickly transformed back into his alt mode, opening the passenger door.

"Get in."

His laughter dying in his throat, Harry stared rather helplessly at the large robot that was radiating worry and guilt. The large being had asked him if he was injured and he had laughed, which only made the big guy worry even more, as well as made him feel guilty. He was just about to open his mouth and say something, anything, when with clicks and whirrs the truck that had ran him over loomed in front of him, the passenger side door open.

"Get in." Deciding not to argue, and feeling guilty about making the large being worry, Harry carefully stood up and climbed into the cab. The door shut behind him with a quiet click as he fumbled slightly with the seatbelt. The truck roared to life as soon as he was buckled in. Still exhausted, despite having slept for the day after he found an abandoned building to sleep in, Harry found himself slipping into a light doze. He didn't wake up again until he felt the truck come to a stop and the seat belt release itself. Seeing the open door, Harry needed no further prompt to climb out of the vehicle.

Noting that he was in an alley of some sort, his attention was diverted from his surroundings as he saw the yellow Camaro and two slightly older teens. He vaguely recognized the taller male, but his attention was focused on the yellow robot that seemed to have wings. He recognized his presence, his aura, his 'core', for lack of a better word. It was exactly the same as the yellow Camaro he had seen when he first arrived, just the other night.

His attention was drawn away from him as the biggest robot knelt in front of the other two teenagers and spoke. "Are you Samuel James Witwicky, descendant of Archibald Witwicky?"

"They know your name." She had whispered the words softly, but Harry still heard her from where he stood slightly hidden behind the robot that had almost killed him. He really did need to find out his name.

"Yeah." Hearing the hesitation in the taller teen's voice, Harry wondered if it was mean of him to secretly enjoy the fact that he was for once, not the center of attention.

"My name is Optimus Prime. We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron." Harry gave a mental cheer that he had been right about them being giant alien robots.

"But you can call us Autobots for short." Turning to look at the robot that had once been an ambulance, Harry felt a shiver go down his spine. He suddenly had a very bad feeling that he wasn't going to always like the red and yellow alien robot.

"What's cracking little bitches?"

"My first lieutenant. Designation, Jazz."

"This looks like a cool place to kick it." Watching the smallest of the five do a fancy looking trick before sprawling onto a broken down car, Harry gave a sad smile. The silver mech reminded him strongly of Sirius. His core gave off a similar warm and fun loving vibe as his godfather. He was so distracted by the thought of how his godfather would like Jazz, he only barely caught the comment Optimus made on how they learned 'Earth's languages on the World Wide Web.' Ah, the wonders of Internet.

"Our medical officer, Ratchet." Staring at the yellow and red mech, Harry slowly began to inch back. Now he knew why he had gotten the chills when he saw Ratchet. The mech was a medic, something that never ended well for him. He had barely been able to escape Madam Pomfrey, how the hell was he going to manage to avoid or escape a giant bloody alien robot?

"The boy's pheromone level suggests he wants to mate with the female." Harry hid a smile. That had to be embarrassing for the two teens. Even in the dark, he could see the faint blushes they had.

"You already know your guardian, Bumblebee."

Listening to Bumblebee use the radio to speak as he danced around, Harry felt his grin widening. The 'core' felt younger than the others, which had Harry thinking that the yellow bot was the equivalent of a human in their late teens or early twenties.

"His vocal processors were damaged in battle. I'm still working on them." Noticing the disgruntled note in Ratchet's voice, Harry knew that the medic had to be itching to properly 'heal' his patient.

Harry felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up as he felt and heard the humming energy. It turned out to be his would be killer. "You feeling lucky, punk?"

"My weapons specialist, Ironhide." When Optimus said his name, their was a note of warning in his voice. Finally having a name to go with the large black mech, Harry wondered when he would be noticed.

"I'm just kidding. I just wanted to show him my cannons." Snorting, Harry quickly slapped a hand over his mouth as everyone turned to look at him.

"Ironhide, who is this?" Suddenly seeming to remember his presence, Ironhide turned to Ratchet.

Eyes widening, Harry quickly spoke to divert the attention from himself by asking the question that seemed to be bugging the other two teenagers. "Why are you here?"

That seemed to do the trick as Optimus spoke. "We are here looking for the All Spark. And we must find it before Megatron."

"Mega-what." Rolling his eyes, Harry spoke up.

"Megatron. Let me guess, he wants the All Spark so he can somehow use it to take over the world and wipe out human kind." If he was right, Harry was definitely decking Sirius as soon as he saw his godfather again. Ironhide and Jazz chuckled at his statement.

"Got it in one kid." Harry groaned, glaring darkly up at Ironhide as the weapons specialist chuckled at him.

Glancing at the older teens, Harry noticed that they didn't seem to understand how bad the situation was. Optimus seemed to notice as well since he did something that suddenly had the them standing in a hologram of some sort. It was remarkably like the pensive he had the misfortune of entering.

"Our planet was once a powerful empire, peaceful and just, until we were betrayed by Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. All who defied them were destroyed. Our war finally consumed the planet, and the All Spark was lost to the stars. Megatron followed it to Earth, where Captain Witwicky found him." Listening to Optimus speak, Harry stared at the destruction before him. Eyes going flat, Harry tried not to think about just how similar Megatron and his Decepticons seemed compared to Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

"My grandfather."

"It was an accident that intertwined our fates." Harry snorted at that. He highly doubted that it was a mere accident that led to Sam's grandfather finding Megatron. His parents were dead because of a prophecy, even if he hadn't heard its contents, it was obvious that Voldemort had heard enough of it to attempt to kill him.

"Megatron crashed landed before he could retrieve the Cube. Captain Witwicky accidentally activated his navigation system. The coordinates to the Cube's location on Earth were imprinted on his glasses."

"How'd you know about his glasses?"

"eBay." Choking back a laugh, Harry was highly amused by the thought that a pair of glasses that could decide whether or not Earth was destroyed were for sale on eBay.

"If the Decepticons find the All Spark, they will use its power to transform Earth's machines and build a new army." Eyes widening, he stared at Ratchet as he fully comprehended the importance of the All Spark. The Wizarding World may see him as nothing more than an emotional, bratty teenager with a short temper that had a knack for DADA, that didn't mean he was. He barely even heard Optimus speaking, or the comment that the girl made.

"And the human race will be extinguished. Sam Witwicky, you hold the key to Earth's survival."

"Please tell me that you have those glasses."

He barely heard them speaking since he was busy trying to wrap his mind around the fact that the thing that brought life to Cybertron, that probably kept the planet alive, was somewhere on Earth. Not to mention the fact that the Decepticons wanted to use it to create an army of what would probably be children. Eyes hardening, Harry silently vowed to do anything and everything in his power to keep the Cube, the All Spark, from falling into the hands of the Decepticons.

**Somewhere Over The Atlantic**

Watching the others examining the tail, Sirius stayed as far away from it as he could. The fact that it could be hurt was a relief, but he would have felt a lot more confident if he had a wand. Some of the stronger fire spells he knew would undoubtedly do a lot of damage. He was not happy about being unable to defend himself. But as he watched the tail suddenly arch forward and nearly stab Epps, he started to think that maybe he should sit this fight out. Giant alien robots were not his area of expertise, no matter how many episodes of _Gundam Wing_he had watched. Or how much he agreed with Lennox about them being wicked.

* * *

A/N: If you were wondering why I didn't have any scenes focusing on Sam and Mikaela, I thought it would feel too much like I was just copying the movie, which I feel like I'm kinda already doing with the Maggie and Keller pieces, but I can't not include them because you see the two in at least a third of the movie. I will be writing from Sam and Mikaela's point of view in the sequel most likely. Anyway, I hope that you've enjoyed this chapter. I'll be posting the next one as soon as I finish adding a few scenes and editing. Reviews are wonderful, and thank you for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: See first chapter.  
Warnings: Language, AU, OOC

A/N: I would have had this posted sooner, but I did some major re-editing. Thanks to that, this chapter is nearly twice as long as it would have originally been. I'm working on the final chapter now, and even though it's technically finished, I'm adding to it. I should have it posted sometime on the 8th, and I am working on a sequel, but it will be a while before I have it up. But, the final chapter will be up sometime on the 8th.

Key:  
_=Ironhide, radio link=  
-Ratchet, radio link-  
_~"Bumblebee talking through the radio"~

Word Count: 10,781  
Published: 5 August 2009  
Status: In progress, 3 of 4_**

* * *

**_

**_Chapter Three:  
_**

**Interrogation Room**

It had been hours since the two had been placed in the interrogation room. Seeing the plate of donuts that was placed in front of them, Maggie rolled her eyes. Eating sugar wasn't going to help her stay awake. Leaning back in her seat, she watched as Glen ate the entire plate, with the exception of a few bites.

"You want that piece?" Maggie didn't respond to that. She hadn't grabbed a donut when the plate was first brought in, why did Glen think she would want one now?

"Okay, Maggie, look. Let me break it down to you how it's gonna happen. They gonna come through that door and be good cop, bad cop. Don't fall for that, all right? That's why I ate their food. See, they put the plate of donuts out here to test your guilt. If you don't touch it, you're guilty. I ate the whole plate. The whole plate. Okay? It's me and you. They walk through that door, you don't say nothing."

Giving Glen a blank look, Maggie wondered how worried she should be when they were finally asked questions. It looked like she would find out soon since the door opened, two men walking in. One was an FBI agent, the other was a guy in a suit carrying several folders.

The man had barely dropped the folders onto the table when Glen began to freak out, pointing his finger at her as he spoke. "She did it! She did it! She's the one you want! All right? I was just sitting at home watching cartoons, playing video games with my cousin. And she came in there. And then..."

"Glen, you freak."

"Hey! I am not going to jail for you or anybody else! I have done nothing bad my entire life! Hey, man, I'm still a virgin." Standing up, Glen was pushed back into his seat by the tall, bald, FBI agent.

"Okay, so what? I've downloaded a couple of thousand songs off the Internet. Who hasn't? Who hasn't? I promise!"

"Glen, shut up!"

"No, you shut up! Don't talk to me! Don't talk to me, criminal!"

Sitting back in her chair, Maggie gave a frustrated sigh as she waited for Glen to calm down.

"Oh, sugar rush." With Glen resting his head, Maggie finally had a chance to speak.

"This is... This is not his fault."

"See? So can I go home now?" Once again, Glen was pushed back down into his seat.

"Oh, okay. I won't."

"But just listen to me. Okay, whoever hacked into your military system downloaded a file, all right? It was something about someone named Witwicky and some government group, right? Named Sector Seven. You have to let me talk to Defense Secretary Keller before you go to war with the wrong country!"

Seeing the man remain silent, his expression never changing, Maggie wondered just what she had gotten herself into in her search for proof. And even worse, she had dragged Glen into the mess right alongside with her.

**Tranquility/Sam's House**

Sitting in Ironhide's cab, Harry pondered everything he had just learned. He was fairly sure that his conclusion that the All Spark/Cube brought life to Cybertron was right, but he couldn't be positive unless he asked. And he needed to be sure, especially since he got the feeling that Optimus Prime would rather see the Cube destroyed than in the hands of Megatron. It would mean the extinction of his race, but it would also prevent any future generations from living in a war torn world or being used as weapons.

"Ironhide, the Cube is what gave you and your world life, isn't it?"

Startled by the perceptive question, it took Ironhide several minutes to think of a response. "Yes, it is. The All Spark is the reason that we aren't mindless drones, nothing more than machines. The All Spark gives us our Sparks, what you humans would call souls. The Cube is what creates Sparklings."

"Megatron will use it to give Earth's machines Sparks of their own, essentially creating an endless army as long as he has a supply of machines to bring to life. It won't matter how many you can destroy, Megarton would simply replace them with the Cube. If he gets the Cube, there would be no stopping him from conquering the universe, not unless there's an uprising in his ranks. You will be fighting a lost war the moment he gets the Cube, won't you?" Noting the dull eyes, Ironhide carefully considered the small teenager, knowing that the boy would know the truth even if he lied.

"Yes, but we will not let the Decepticons get their slaggin' claws on it." Ironhide knew that the boy heard the silent, 'even if we have to destroy it', by his bowed head and sorrowful expression. The petite human really did understand the war that they were fighting, which had him wondering just what had forced the boy's eyes to reflect a wisdom well beyond his age. The youngling shouldn't feel like a harden war veteran, one that had seen far too much.

"You never did tell us your name." The comment was spoken casually, but it got the desired result Ironhide wanted. It had the green-eyed human smiling sheepishly and no longer lost in dark thoughts.

"My name's Harry." Ironhide noted how the boy seemed to subconsciously flatten his bangs over a thin, lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead as he gave his name. He didn't comment on it, nor on how the teen didn't give a last name.

"As soon as we stop, I'm going to have Ratchet examine you."

"I'm fine Ironhide, just a little bruised when I fell. I tripped and landed flat on my back before you could hit me. I'm lucky you have such a high frame, you drove right over me."

Ironhide hummed softly, agreeing that the teen really had been lucky. He would still ask Ratchet to look the boy over, but discretely. He was sure that Harry had been quick to assure him that he was fine because he didn't want to deal with a medic, which led him to believe that the teen had spent too much time in an infirmary. The thought of the boy injured and in pain had Ironhide itching to shoot something, preferably the one responsible for Harry being in that state to begin with.

Further conversation was prevented as Ironhide came to a stop. They had finally reached Sam's house, the trip having felt longer than it actually was, but Ironhide figured it was more because of what they had talked about then the actual distance to the house. As Harry climbed out of his cab, Ironhide silently opened a private communication line with Ratchet.

_=Ratchet, can you scan Harry without him noticing? I nearly ran him over and want to make sure he isn't injured aside from the few bruises he claims he has from the fall.=_

_-You ran him over?-_

_=Not on purpose. He stumbled out of an alleyway seconds before I would have passed it. My sensors told me that I didn't hit him, but I want to be sure that he isn't hurt.=_

_-Fine, but you had better tell Optimus why another human child knows of our existence.-_

Remembering the little girl that had asked him if he was the 'tooth fairy', Ironhide wisely decided not to mention that encounter. He already knew that Optimus would blow out his audio receptors once he told him exactly how Harry came to be in his company. At the moment, he wouldn't say anything until after they had found the Cube. Optimus had enough to worry about without the knowledge that he had convinced a child to help them fight a war that wasn't his. And Ironhide was fairly sure that something Optimus had either said or done had Harry determined to help the Autobots, regardless if they wanted his help or not.

Stretching, Harry gave a slight wince of pain as he pulled on sore muscles. Feeling a tingling sensation spread across his skin, Harry forced himself not to turn around and shoot a glare at Ironhide. The truck had obviously asked Ratchet to check him for injuries, and he wouldn't have noticed either if he wasn't so sensitive to his surroundings and energy/magic in general. He gave a resigned sigh when he felt Ironhide's Spark pulse with relief. He would forgive the mech, since he really was worried about him, but only just this once.

"Hi, I'm Mikaela. How did you wind up dragged into this? I mean, I ran into Sam when he was attacked and Bumblebee saved us. So, what happened to you?"

"Harry. Just a bit of bad luck. Bullets for brains over there needs to get his visual sensors checked since he ran me over. He might need to get his circuitry checked as well since he decided that he should add kidnapping to his hit and run." Harry kept a straight face as Mikaela stared at him. He even managed not to smile as Ironhide gave what could only be described as a squeak as Optimus suddenly loomed over him, looking decidedly dangerous.

"He ran you over?!" Wide-eyed, Mikaela looked at him as if he was a ghost. Unable to hold it any longer, Harry began to snicker.

"It isn't as bad as I made it sound. I was crossing the street when I tripped and landed on my back, a split second before Ironhide would have hit me. He had just turned a corner when I had started crossing the street. Just bad timing really. Fortunately, his frame's so high off the ground he stopped right on top of me without giving me a single scratch. He had me come along with him since I think he wanted Ratchet to scan me for injuries, and it wasn't like he could drop me off at a hospital. I also wasn't really responsive, so he probably thought I had a head injury."

"You started laughing like a maniac. You either had head trauma or had a mental breakdown at my appearance."

Snorting, Harry gave the truck a dry look. "It was neither. I was simply counting the number of near death experiences that I had. When I realized that number twenty three could be added as nearly being ran over by a giant alien robot, I decided to laugh instead of cry. It made me feel better anyway." It wasn't the real reason, but close enough to the truth that he didn't feel bad about lying.

Realizing that the Autobots were now entering Sam's backyard, Harry followed Mikaela with equal parts amusement and annoyance. For really advanced giant alien robots, they were being rather stupid. Sam's parents were clearly still awake, and would most likely freak out at the sight of the Autobots. Standing back, he silently watched as a harrassed looking Sam tried to talk them into leaving his backyard. When the small Chihuahua peed on Ironhide, Harry had to bite the inside's of his cheeks to keep form laughing. He had to tell Sirius about the small dog 'leaking lubricants' on an alien robot. His godfather would undoubtedly do the same as Padfoot once he stopped laughing long enough to change into the Grim looking dog.

Shaking his head, Harry watched as the Autobots did 'recon' instead of hiding. It had barely been a minute since Sam had went inside when Optimus lifted both him and Mikaela up to Sam's bedroom window. Ignoring the others, he swiftly scanned the room for a backpack or eyeglass case. Sam was beginning to panic when he couldn't find either in his room when he heard shifting metal. Looking out the window with the two older teens, he groaned.

"This isn't hiding. This isn't hiding. This is my backyard, not a truck stop."

When Optimus poked his head back into the window, Harry was tempted to snap at the Autobot leader, but Sam managed to convince him to back off so they could look. Unfortunately, Rachet managed to fall down, taking out some power lines on the way down as well as causing the house to shake in resemblance to an earthquake. The lights went out moments later.

Hearing Sam's parents getting closer to his room, Harry finally lost his patience when Ratchet shined a light into the room. Darting to the window, he pushed Sam out of his way so he could glare at the Autobots.

"Turn that light off now." Hearing Sam's dad starting to count, Harry snarled before grabbing Mikaela and pulling her over to hide in a corner as Sam moved to open his door. Just before the door opened, Harry whispered to the girl. "Just go with it if I talk."

Only paying partial attention to Sam trying to get his parents to leave, Harry tried to figure out what had him on edge. He was trying to pinpoint each of the Autobots' Sparks when the conversation caught his attention.

"Oh for Pete's sake! You are so defensive! Were you... masturbating?" Eyes widening, Harry barely kept himself from choking in shock. Sam's mom did not just ask that question.

"Judy." "Was I mastur-" "Zip it, okay?" "No, Mom."

"It's okay."

"No, I don't masturbate." "That's not something for you to bring up. That's a father-and-son thing, okay." "Father-son thing."

"That's okay. I mean, you don't have to call it that word if it makes you uncomfortable. You can call it... Sam's happy time or..."

"Happy time?"

"...my special alone time..."

"Stop." "Mom." "Judy, stop."

"...with myself."

"Mom, you can't come in and..." "I'm sorry. It's just been a weird night. I've had a little bit to drink."

Harry couldn't even begin to imagine how embarrassed Sam must have been feeling. If Mrs. Weasley had ever broached the topic with him, Harry was fairly sure he would have died of embarrassment. Blushing fiercely, Harry nearly fell over when the ground shook again. Getting fed up, Harry stood up, dragging Mikaela with him as he cleared his throat, his cheeks only slightly flushed. "Hi, I'm Harry. And this is my cousin Mikaela. We're friends of Sam."

Relieved that they had avoided getting in trouble, he followed Sam into the kitchen, amused when Mikaela commented on how Sam's mom was nice. He agreed, the woman felt nice. Seeing Sam with the glasses, he gave a sigh of relief, only to frown darkly when he heard the doorbell. Moving out of the kitchen, he kept out of sight for the moment as he watched Judy confront what seemed to be the man in charge.

"Good Lord! They've got to get their hands of my bush!"

"Drop the bat ma'am, I am carrying a loaded weapon." Moving forward as the man forced Judy to lower the bat, Harry was ready to interfere when Sam's mom growled at the man.

"You better get those guys out of my garden or I am going to beat the crap out of them!" Grinning widely, Harry quietly slipped into the room to stand next to Sam's dad. Judy definitely was a woman you didn't mess with.

His grin disappeared as Sam and Mikaela entered the room and the man gave Sam a wide, friendly smile that reminded him too much of Umbridge. He wanted something, and they weren't going to like it. When the man asked for Sam to go with him, Harry knew that things were about to go to hell. And he was proved right when the man scanned Sam with a machine that began to beep loudly.

"Bingo. Tag them and bag them."

Resisting the urge to fight, he allowed himself to be handcuffed and led from the house, smiling as he heard Judy yelling at the man leading Mojo away. "If you hurt my dog, I'll kick your ass!"

His smile vanished though when he was placed into the same car as Sam and Mikaela, ending up in between the two. He was now positive that this had to do with the Autobots. Face going blank, he completely tuned out the conversation around him as he tried to find Ironhide's Spark. If he could find the weapons specialist, he would be able to sense how far away the Autobots were from them. He registered that Ironhide's Spark was nearby just a moment before the machine that Simmons had used began to beep rapidly. Harry had barely braced himself for impact when the car came to a jolting stop, only to be lifted up into the air. The roof tore off and the car fell about six feet.

"Oh, you assholes are in trouble now. Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to my friend, Optimus Prime." Harry gave a slight smile. It was a good remark, especially when Optimus growled down at the two agents as the other agents moved to surround the wrecked vehicle, aiming their guns at the Autobot leader.

"Taking the children was a bad move. Autobots, relieve them of their weapons."

Feeling four Sparks coming from behind them, Harry grinned widely as he heard Ironhide's cannons whirr to life, his voice an intimidating rumble. "Freeze."

"Give me those." Watching the guns fly into Jazz's hand, Harry finally allowed himself to relax. There was minimal chance now of someone getting hurt. Optimus knelt down on his hands and knees, bringing his face closer to the two agents standing in their seats as the other Autobots surrounded them with weapons drawn.

"Hi there." Harry frowned as he heard only the faintest trace of fear in the man's voice. Something was wrong, and he was glad to hear that Optimus had picked up on it as well.

"You don't seem afraid. Are you not surprise to see us?"

"Look, there are S-Seven protocols, okay? I'm not authorized to communicate with you except to tell you I can't communicate with you." Red flags immediately went up in Harry's mind when he heard the word authorized. S-Seven was definitely some kind of secret organization, whether or not it was connected to the government had yet to be seen.

"Get out of the car." While the words were growled at the agents, Harry followed the order anyway, rubbing his wrists after Mikaela uncuffed him. He would have done it himself if he had something to pick the lock, but he didn't. Giving Mikaela a smile he landed lightly on his feet after jumping out of the car.

"You good with handcuffs too, now, huh?" Annoyed, Harry rubbed his temples as he growled at Sam.

"Bloody hell, quit with the drama. If I had a bobby pin or paperclip, I would have picked the locks myself. So what if she has a juvie record? My godfather was framed for mass murder and spent almost thirteen years in prison before he escaped. Just because his record says he's a homicidal maniac doesn't mean he is."

Stressed, Harry made his way over to Ironhide and rested his forehead against the cool metal of his leg. The reality of the last couple days had finally decided to sink in and he felt like the child that he was. He was close to reaching his breaking point and wanted nothing more than for Sirius to hug him and tell him that everything would be alright, like he had one night during the summer when he was worried about being expelled. The others had told him that Dumbledore would take care of it, that he didn't need to worry, refusing to let him show anything but a confidant face.

Taking a deep breath, Harry forced his fear back and steeled his nerves. He couldn't break down just yet, not until the Autobots had the Cube in their possession. He had vowed to help them and he would be useless if he broke down now. With one more deep breath, Harry straightened his back and stood tall, moving away from Ironhide as he turned to join Sam and Mikaela.

He turned just in time to see Simmons get hit in the back of the head with what appeared to be a gas cap. As the man reached a hand to rub the spot, Bumblebee began to spray some type of liquid onto the man. It actually looked like the yellow mech was taking a piss on Simmons' head. Eyes dancing with laughter and amusement, the snickers he had held back broke free once Optimus spoke. "Bumblebee, stop lubricating the man."

He was sitll snickering as he helped Sam and Mikaela handcuff the men in a chain. He gave a soft snort when Mikaela ordered Simmons to strip for threatening her dad. He would have done something more humiliating if the man had threatened Sirius, but that would have involved using magic, which he really couldn't use at the moment. It would lead to quesions he didn't want to answer anyway.

Listening to Simmons and his second in command complain, Harry knew that Sector Seven was part of the government. They had to be with the threats they were making. They wouldn't threaten a federal offense if they weren't capable of seeing it through. And it would be easier for them to do if they were part of the government, especially given thatt they were dealing with a classified branch of some sort. One that they didn't want revealed to the general public. Hearing the approaching helicopters, Harry cursed himself for not searching them for cell phones. They had called in reinforcements.

Climbing into Optimus' hand with Sam and Mikaela, he tightly latched himself onto his shoulder as the mech ran through the town, quickly ditching the helicopters that were following them. He almost lost his balance as Optimus hid from sight underneath a bridge. Just as the helicopters were about to pass beneath them, Mikaela fell, Sam barely keeping her and himself from falling completely. Grabbing Sam's arm, he tried to pull them up, only to get dragged off as well. Grabbing onto Sam, he gave a soft grunt of pain when his shoulder collided with Optimus' foot. The collision slowed their fall just enough for Bumblebee to transform and snag them mere feet before they would have hit solid cement.

He had barely regained his footing when Bumblebee was shot by a harpoon with cables. Ignoring the agents that were ordering them to get down on the ground, he darted towards Bumblebee, screaming for them to leave him alone as he tackled one of the agents. It took four agents to hold him down and another two to get a strong enough grip on his arms that they were able to drag him away. He was brought in front of Simmons at the same time as Sam.

"Happy to see me again? Put them in the car with their other criminal friend." Able to clearly feel Bumblebee's fear and pain through the mech's Spark, Harry didn't notice that he had tears silently streaming down his cheeks. With a snarl that would have done Moony proud, Harry tore his arm free and decked the man as hard as he could. The pain in his fist wasn't even noticed as he watched Simmons stagger and nearly fall. He didn't get a chance for a second blow as he was forcibly lifted and shoved into a car with Mikaela, Sam pushed in after him. Staring at Bumblebee through the window, he tried his hardest not to break down into sobs.

His ability to sense others was a double-edged blade since for some he could sense their emotions as well as their presence. His ability as an empath was one of the reasons why he had found it so difficult in trying to learn Occlumency. Snape's annoyance, disdain, and utter dislike of him had made it next to impossible to concentrate, let alone focus enough to shield his mind. He now wished that he could shield his mind, if just to lessen the intensity of the fear and pain he could feel coming from Bumblebee. It threatened to overwhelm him.

**Pentagon- National Military Command Center**

"The Chinese and the Russians are nearing our area of operations in the western Pacific. We feel like this could get out of hand real fast."

"But the next couple of hours may just define his presidency." It may also define a lot of other people as well, himself included.

"US and Chinese task forces approaching 100 nautical miles of cruise missile range."

"Tell the strike group commander that he's not to engage unless fired on first." His voice not quite a yell, he stressed the words enough to make it clear that his order was to be obeyed with no exceptions.

"Yes, sir!"

"Mr. Secretary?" Turning around and looking at the man that spoke, Keller didn't recognize him.

"Tom Banachek. I'm with Sector Seven, Advanced Research Division."

"Never heard of it. I'm a little busy, Tom. I think you can see that." Having not recognized the man, nor the organization he was with, Keller turned around. He would deal with the man later. Seeing the various screens flicker and go to snow, Keller felt a headache coming on. His long day had long since turned into a very long week, if not even longer.

"Sit rep! Talk to me!"

"The whole room's gone down, sir."

"I can see that!" Even someone with no computer experience would be able to tell that something had gone wrong.

"The virus was coded to shut us down."

"General?"

"I'll take a seat." Ignoring Banachek, Keller focused on the current situation.

"What do you mean, 'shut us down'?"

"They used our network to spread out to the whole world. The blackout's global. We have no communications, satellite and land lines are dead."

"You mean to tell me that I cannot pick up this telephone and call my family?" He trailed off on the last word as he was met with no dial tone. Dropping the phone, he pulled out his cell phone to find that it wasn't working either. Dropping it onto the desk, Keller could only imagine the chaos that was about to start.

"Mr. Secretary? I'm here under direct order from the President. You really need to see what I have in the case." Following Banachek into a room where they would have some privacy, Keller silently waited for the man to get to the point of why he was there.

"You'll have to accept that there are certain things you won't understand right away. Sector Seven is a special-access division of the government convened in secret under President Hoover eighty years ago. You may remember NASA JPL lost the Beagle 2 Mars Rover." He vaguely remembered that, but Keller wasn't about to tell Tom that.

"We told them to report the mission a complete failure. It wasn't. Beagle 2 transmitted thirteen seconds. This was classified above top secret." Turning his attention to the laptop screen, Keller watched a video that shouldn't exist.

"EDA ended at 170 hours, 48 minutes. More than just a pile of Maritan rocks. This is the image from Mars. Here's the image your Special Ops team was able to retrieve from the base attack. We believe they are of the same exoskeletal type, and obviously not Russian or North Korean."

"Are we talking about an invasion?"

"We intercepted the message from your Special Ops team. These things can be hurt by our weapons and now they know it. That's why the virus shut us down, so we can't coordinate against their next attack, which I would bet my ridiculous government salary is coming soon."

"Get word to our fleet commanders over the National Guard frequency. It's a shortwave radio channel. It might be still working. Tell them to turn their hips around and come home. ASAP! And inform all commands to prepare for imminent attack." Now having some idea of what the threat was, Keller was finally able to give out orders with confidence. He even had a vague idea of who he needed to talk to. He had asked the young analyst to provide proof for her theory, and now he had it. So, he sure as hell was going to listen to her now.

**Nellis Airforce Base**

Glad to be on solid ground again, Sirius forced back his fatigue as he followed Epps and Lennox away from the plane. They had barely gotten a few yards away when a man in a suit ran up to them after getting out of an SUV that suddenly came to a stop.

"Captain Lennox, we need you and your team to come with us right now! Let's go!" The man grabbed Lennox's bag from him and jogged towards the SUV. Following Lennox, Sirius wondered if he would be able to take a shower and change into some clean clothes soon. Epps had already said he would let him borrow a clean uniform until he had a chance to get some clothes of his own.

It turned out that whoever they were going to meet was important, since they were allowed to take quick showers and change into clean clothes before being bustled onto a helicopter. He actually looked like a soldier in the uniform, but clearly wasn't with his long hair and no hat. He did make an effort not to stick out more than he already did by tying his hair back in a tight, if short, braid. Epps even dug out a spare hat for him to wear to help hide his long hair, which was definitely against regulations. A quick lesson in how to salute, and he was as ready for where they were going as he was going to get.

**Interrogation Room**

Feet up on the table, Maggie tried not to fall asleep, even as her eyes kept drifting shut. She had long since given up on finding out where they were, as well as keeping track of how much time had passed. No one had spoken to either of them in the hours that they had been there. At least Glen seemed to have calm down, after he was given some Alkazelter and Peto-Bismal. He really shouldn't have eaten that entire plate of donuts.

Seeing the door open, Maggie immediately woke up. "She's in here."

Sitting up straight, with her feet planted on the ground again, she spoke. "What's going on?"

"You're coming with me. You're going to be my adviser." Staring at Keller, Maggie found herself rather shocked. His adviser?

"Me too?"

"Who's this?" Turning to Glen, Maggie thought quickly.

"He's...my adviser."

"He comes too."

**Helicopter**

Sitting in the helicopter, Harry felt a small amount of joy at being in the air again. It wasn't the same as his broom, no where close, but being in the air helped to calm him. It also helped that he knew they would be getting answers soon. Flying had to be the quickest way to get them to their destination. Sitting between Sam and Mikaela, Harry stared across at the two others that looked like they had been taken hostage as well.

"So..." Sam tried to start a conversation, but trailed off. Luckily, the woman spoke before an awkward silence could take place.

"What'd they get you for?"

"Uh, I bought a car. Turned out to be an alien robot."

"Wow." The word was whispered, but Harry heard it.

"Who knew?" Smiling a bit at the stunned expressions, Harry decided to add his own comment.

"I was run over by a truck, which was an alien robot, and then kidnapped by said extraterrestrial." His smile turned into soft snickers as they stared at him. He had to laugh, since it was likely the most normal thing to ever happen to him. Encountering aliens was weird for anyone, which meant that it could be seen as normal for him, even if it wasn't exactly something normal. Shaking his head, Harry wondered if his life would ever be normal. As the helicopters landed, and they were herded into SUVs, Harry had the feeling that the abnormal would forever be normal for him.

**230 Miles From The All Spark/Hoover Dam**

"Please, let this work." Lifting the glasses, Optimus carefully passed two green lasers through one of the lenses, not needing Jazz's encouragement to do so.

"Fire it up Optimus."

"The code. The code on these glasses indicates the All Spark is 230 miles from here." They were close, so close to finally finding what they had been searching for, Primus knew how long they had been looking.

"I sense the Decepticons are getting ready to mobolize." Ratchet was right. The Decepticons must know that they had the glasses and were preparing to make their move.

"They must know it's here, as well." Glancing at Optimus, Ironhide could tell that the Prime agreed with him. The question of how they knew where the Cube was didn't matter. What mattered was reaching it before the Decepticons did.

"What about Bumblebee? We can't just leave him to die and become some human experiment!" Looking up at Jazz, Ironhide didn't speak. The younger mech needed to learn that sometimes, what he wanted to do, and what needed to be done weren't always the same, nor would he always like the results. As much as he wanted to rescue Bumblebee, Ironhide knew that securing the All Spark came first.

"He'll die in vain if we don't accomplish our mission. Bumblebee is a brave soldier. This is what he would want." Staying silent, Ironhide knew that the reprimand was needed. If they rescued Bumblebee, they risked allowing the Decepticons to acquire the All Spark. They wouldn't stand a chance if that happened.

"Why are we fighting to save the humans? They're a primitive and violent race." Looking at Jazz, Optimus found himself slightly surprised that Ironhide hadn't asked. But, thinking about the small human he had brought with him, maybe he shouldn't be so surprised. Ironhide respected Harry, but he would ponder why later.

"Were we so different? They're a young species. They have much to learn. But I've seen goodness in them. Freedom is the right of all sentient beings. You all know there's only one way to end this war. We must destroy the Cube. If all else fails, I will unite it with the Spark in my chest." Even as he revealed his Spark briefly, Optimus knew that the idea wouldn't sit well with his comrades.

"That's suicide. The Cube is raw power. It could destroy you both." Optimus almost smiled. Of course Ratchet would voice his concerns. The medical officer never hesitated in speaking up when he thought a plan would result in the serious injury or possible death of those involved. But, it was necessary.

"A necessary sacrifice to bring peace to this planet. We cannot let the humans pay for our mistakes. It's been an honor serving with you all." Ironhide now understood what had managed to convince Harry to help them. Optimus was willing to sacrifice himself to ensure Earth's safety, to keep the humans out of a war that even he could admit they had no part of. Yet Harry seemed to believe that it had become his war as well the moment the All Spark had landed on Earth. His respect for Harry grew in that moment, as did his respect for Optimus. The Autobot leader had said a final good bye, without making it seem like he was heading for his death.

"Autobots, roll out!" As he moved out, following Optimus, Ironhide could only hope that the coming hours would not lead to Optimus' death. He could also only hope that both Bumblebee and Harry would be okay.

"We're rolling." At least Jazz had something to focus on now, instead of his worry for Bumblebee. Ironhide wasn't so fortunate. Even as they headed for the All Spark, his thoughts were plagued with various scenarios and situations that Harry and Bumblebee could be in. He could admit it, he was a 'mother hen'. But, Bumblebee had grown on him. He had known the yellow mech since he was a Sparkling, cute and annoying, always getting into trouble. He had gotten into the habit of worrying for the little nuisance, and still was even if he was no longer a Sparkling. Harry on the other hand. The tiny human was just so small and fragile. The youngling was also determined to get involved in their war. Ironhide couldn't not worry. Of course, he would be sure to shoot the first mech that dared to call him a mother hen or worry wart. He would definitely make sure no one would dare to accuse him of going soft. He had a reputation he sure as hell was going to maintain.

**Hoover Dam**

Sliding out of the car, Harry glanced out over the edge of the dam, feeling something brush against his senses before it was gone. Frowning, Harry pondered what it could have possibly been as he moved towards where he saw a group of soldiers standing at attention. They were just about to start walking when he recognized a familiar presence. Darting past Simmons, who was sporting a dark purple bruise on his left jaw, Harry tackled the man at the very end of the line. Landing on top of him, he ignored startled blue eyes and punched him hard across the jaw. Not nearly as hard as when he hit Simmons, but still hard enough. As soon as that was done he wrapped his arms around his neck and buried his face into his shoulder.

"You stupid git. Bloody bastard. Moronic wanker. I thought you were dead." Giving a choked sob, he bit his lips as he tried to keep himself from crying. He had refused to allow himself to think that Sirius could be dead, but the fear and worry had still been there. When warm arms wrapped around him tightly, he nearly did break down.

Snapping off a salute, Sirius gave a silent sigh of relief when the man spoke with Lennox. He didn't really pay too much attention to the conversation, trying not to draw attention to himself. Soon enough, they were moving. He was about to follow Epps down the bridge when a small blur slammed into his chest, knocking the air from his lungs even as he landed flat on his back. He was barely able to stare at his godson in shock before Harry landed a mean right hook on him. Sitting up on his elbows, he nearly found himself flat on his back again as arms wrapped around his neck and a face was buried into his shoulder. Bringing himself into a full sitting position, he just barely caught what was being mumbled into his shoulder. Wrapping his arms tightly around his godson, he took a moment to just hold him before he stood up, Harry dangling from his neck.

"Pup, it's alright. I'm here, I'm alive. Damn Prongslet, that was one hell of a punch. Did it make you feel better?" One arm supporting his weight, Sirius used his free hand to soothingly stroke Harry's back and hair. Lennox and his men were staring at him, but Sirius didn't mind. He was more intent on calming Harry down.

"Stupid git. I'll feel better if you let me punch you again Siri." He smiled, only to hiss in pain as he stretched tender flesh.

"I don't think so. You definitely got that right hook from your mother. She laid your father out flat once when he said she looked fat while she was pregnant with you, Emeralds. The look on Prongs' face was hysterical. Want me to carry you?"

Sirius didn't get a verbal response, but he took the legs wrapping around him as a yes. Still stroking the shaking back, he rocked ever so slightly. His godson had finally reached his breaking point, and he was only grateful that he was there to hold him. Moving towards Epps and Lennox, he shrugged his shoulder to get Harry to look up. Once his godson did, he spoke.

"Pup, I want you to meet someone. This is Will Lennox and Robert Epps. They and the rest of their team found me while I was in the desert. Lennox, Epps, this is my godson Harry. How did you end up here?"

"I was ran over by a giant alien robot, kidnapped and taken to his leader, and then kidnapped by a secret government group called Sector Seven. Did you know, I've now had twenty four near death experiences. Getting ran over by a giant alien robot was number twenty three and number twenty four was nearly falling to my death off of the leader of the giant alien robots. I've actually probably had more than twenty four near death experiences, but I'm not sure if they would count. And I think I might have missed a few. Does it matter if I missed some?" Wrapping a hand around the back of his neck, Sirius gave a relieved sigh as Harry quit his babbling, giving him a chance to speak.

"Harry, I want you to close your eyes, rest your head on my shoulder, and count lions. Don't quit counting until I tell you to, okay?" A softly mumbled yes was given before he felt Harry's breathing begin to even as he rested his cheek against his shoulder. Seeing Epps' and Lennox's concerned faces, Sirius gave a lopsided, if pained, smile.

"This was bound to happen. I'm honestly surprised he hasn't snapped sooner. I've only recently entered his life, and still haven't managed to gain custody over him even though I should have had him since the night his parents were murdered. The poor kid is famous because he isn't dead in certain circles and is treated like some grand hero. If he doesn't act like an adult or the hero he is seen as he's criticized. It started when he was eleven. He's had to deal with too much shit since then, including having three of his teachers nearly kill him, another try and use his fame to boost his own, and the last one try and make him out be an attention seeking brat that's insane and delusional. That's only part of the crap he's had to deal with." Face going dark, Sirius scowled as he thought about some of the other things Harry had to deal with.

"Damn. How old is he?"

"Pup will turn sixteen at the end of July." Carding his fingers through Harry's hair, he tried not to think of what would have happened to his godson if he hadn't followed him through the Veil. He had a lot of time to think while locked up in his childhood home/prison for the last year, ever since he had found Harry with tears in his eyes a week after he had come to Grimauld Place. His godson was being molded into a weapon, the self-sacrificing nature he had was carefully crafted by Dumbledore's manipulations. With him out of the picture, Dumbledore would have been the one to pick up the pieces when Harry finally broke. He didn't even want to think about what the man would have done.

"He's just a kid." Glancing at Epps as he walked, Sirius gave a bitter bark of laughter.

"He is, but it's next to impossible to treat him like one. Because of a mistake I made, as well as trusting the wrong people, Harry ended up going to Lily's sister. He was never suppose to go to her, she hated Lily. From the little that Harry's told me, they treated him as their own personal slave and constantly belittled him. He grew up thinking his parents were drunks that died in a car crash until he was accepted into the same boarding school that we went to when we were eleven. He's never had the chance to act like a child so he reacts negatively when he is treated like one. I've barely managed to convince him that it's alright for him to show fear, weakness, around me."

"So how should we treat him? I don't want to mess up what you're trying to do by saying the wrong thing around him." Keeping in step with Lennox and Epps as they began to reach the elevator that would take them down to the bottom of the dam. Sirius carefully considered his response.

"Don't treat him like he's glass about to break. If he asks you a question, don't lie to him or sugarcoat the answer. If you don't want to answer it, tell him straight and give him a reason why, other than because he is a child or you think he's too young. He also picks up on emotions easily, so if you're pissed off about something, he'll know, and probably think it's about something he did. Don't out and out say you're not mad at him, just give subtle hints as to what has you angry, annoyed, frustrated. His bastard of an uncle might not have beat him, but whenever anything went wrong he somehow found a reason to blame Harry and would punish him accordingly, either locking him in a cupboard or witholding food, often both. I'd tear the bastard apart with my bare hands if it didn't do more harm than good. Harry's far too forgiving for his own good."

Reaching the elevator, he stood in a back corner with Lennox and Epps. He may have growled half of what he said, but there wasn't any real anger behind his words. He had learned to quickly let his anger and frustration go around his godson, especially after he realized that Harry was a partial empath, only picking up on the emotions of seemingly random people or beings. Once things calmed down, he would teach Harry the small amount of Occlumency he knew, as well as how to meditate. It would help him, and maybe he could teach Harry how to change into his Animigus form. That would be interesting to see.

Noticing the large purple bruise on Simmons' face, he gave a soft snicker just as the elevator came to a stop. Following Simmons, he listened to the man speak, content to let Harry rest against him since he probably knew most of what was about to be said. Of course, that wasn't to be so, as Harry stirred against him, shifting enough so he could hear what was being said better.

"All right, here's the situation. You've all had direct contact with the NBEs."

"Wait, what the hell is an NBE?" Sirius was fairly sure that he wasn't the only once confused by the term.

"Non-Biological Extraterrestrials. Try to keep up with the acronyms." Bristling at the condescending tone, Sirius bit out a sarcastic comment.

"Why don't you use a simpler one, like B.A.R.? Big Alien Robot or Big Arse Robot. It's simple, descriptive, and easy to remember." That brought a soft snicker out of his godson.

Simmons ignored his remark as they were led down a tunnel. "What you are about to see, is totally classified."

"Compared to what, partially classified? We're running a top secret operation, but you don't have the clearance to know more?" Sirius would have made another sarcastic remark when he caught sight of the frozen, giant ass alien robot. Arms tightening around his godson, he held him even closer as he took in the savage looking mech.

"Dear God, what is this?" Sirius silently echoed the question in his own mind. What in Merlin was that thing?

"We think when he made his approach over the north pole, our gravitational field screwed up his telemetry. He crashed in the ice, probably a few thousand years ago."

"No, he was looking for Santa because he didn't like the coal that he got for Christmas." Sarcasm, thy name is Sirius. Hearing Epps and Lennox snicker, as well as feel his godson's silent laughter, Sirius was glad that at least someone appreciated what he was trying to do.

Banacheck continued speaking as if he hadn't interrupted him. "We shipped him here to this facility in 1934."

"We call him NBE One." Sirius rolled his eyes at Simmons. Really, and he thought wizards could be unoriginal.

"Well, sir, I don't mean to correct you on everything you think you know, but that's Megatron. He's the leader of the Decepticons." Eyes widening at what the kid said. Sirius groaned. He was standing in front of the alien equivalent to Voldemort.

"He's been in cryostasis since 1935. Your great-great-grandfather made one of the greatest discoveries in the history of mankind."

"Fact is, you're looking at the source of the modern age, the microchip, lasers, spaceflight, cars, all reversed-engineered by studying him. NBE One. That's what we call it."

"And you didn't think the United States military might need to know that you're keeping a hostile alien robot frozen in the basement?" That was what really bothered Keller. It didn't take a genius to understand that they were playing with something even deadlier than fire. Hadn't they learned from past experiences the dangers of technology? Hell, this wasn't even just technology, but an actual living being. Things were not going to be pretty.

"Until these events, we had no credible threat to national security."

"Well, you got one now." Hell, they had a threat to national security since the day it was chosen to move the giant frozen mech. It was the most moronic, idiotic, stupid thing he had ever seen done. They were dealing with a hostile alien robot, and from the looks of things, Sector Seven had no plans on how to deal with even the slightest chance of things going badly. They were counting on teenagers, _children_, for help. Sure, they may have information needed, but there should have been some form of emergency plan in place on how to deal with a possible attack/invasion.

"So why Earth?" There had to be a reason why. Having already seen one of the mechs in action, Lennox knew that there had to be a specific reason why they were on Earth. And it wasn't for their technology.

"It's the All Spark." Looking at the teen, he frowned. What the hell was he talking about.

"All Spark? What is that?"

"Well, yeah, they came here looking for some sort of cube-looking thing. Anyway, Mr. NBE One here, aka Megatron, that's what they call him, who's pretty much the harbinger of death, wants to use the Cube to transform human technology to take over the universe. That's their plan."

Staring at Megatron, Sirius resisted the urge to groan. The Decepticon leader was definitely the equivalent of Voldemort, except he had even higher ambitions. He wanted to take over the universe, not just the world. No wonder Harry had punched him. His godson not only thought he was dead, he probably also came to the same conclusion about Megatron being Voldemort's alien twin, that was much more evil. He was distracted from the rest of what was being said when Harry suddenly went rigid in his arms. Worried, he was only too happy to follow Simmons away from Megatron and into an observation room that looked out over a giant cube that was definitely alien. Things just kept getting better and better. Not only did they have a frozen, evil alien robot, they had the Cube that said evil robot was looking for in the very next hangar. Sirius just knew that things were about to go bad, very quickly. Trouble followed Harry around like a demented puppy, and this was just a disaster waiting to happen.

Latched onto his godfather, Harry drifted in a state of just existing. He was aware of what was being said around him, but he felt detached somehow. He basked in Sirius' protective presence, secure in the knowledge that his godfather would keep him safe. He wouldn't have been able to close his eyes and just exist otherwise. When he felt a mixture of worry and dread, he lost the detached way he observed his surroundings as he stretched out his senses and went completely rigid as he felt a dark Spark so tainted by insanity, he could feel it even though the being it belonged to wasn't truly awake.

Struggling not to panic, he focused on the arms that held him tightly, using the positive emotions he felt for his godfather to push away the insanity that was trying to consume him. It felt even worse than Voldemort's presence, but if he could fight the Dark Lord while utterly terrified, then he could keep calm in the presence of the tainted Spark. When he finally grounded himself, he opened his eyes just in time to see Simmons putting a phone in some kind of box.

And then he felt it. The sheer power of it hummed through him, making his magic purr in response. Feeling hyper-sensitive, he squirmed out of Sirius arms and looked closely at the box that had everyone's attention, only absently noting he was wearing goggles. And he felt it, the tiny Spark and its pain. How the taint that had nearly overwhelmed him completely corrupted the small Spark and drove the tiny being beyond insane. It was just a mindless being bent on causing only destruction, unable to think past the bloodlust that consumed it, the insanity destroying any sense of self it may have had. It was with silent tears that he watched Simmons pull a trigger that electrocuted the insane mech and put it out of its miserable existence.

"Gentlemen, they know the Cube is here." He had been right, the massive source of raw power he had felt was the Cube, which meant the tainted Spark had to be Megatron. The Decepticon's close proximity to the Cube for such a long time had to have tainted the All Spark's energy, or at least anything the energy brought to life. His Spark was powerful, strong enough to overwhelm the tiny Spark he had felt in the small phone.

With everyone running to arm themselves, Harry darted away from the group to find Bumblebee, the yellow mech's pain was like a homing beacon. The yellow mech would know what to do, and he wasn't about to wait around for someone else to come to that same conclusion. Bursting into the room that was the source, he found Bumblebee being kept cold so he couldn't function. The Cube's energy boosting his own magic, Harry barely even blinked as the men in the room were thrown back away from him and Bumblebee.

"The Cube is here, but so is Megatron." A cannon humming with energy was pointed at the men that were slowly getting up.

"Ignore them, we have bigger problems. Megatron's waking up and we need to get the Cube out of here. Come on." Bumblebee was just starting to fully stand up when Sam showed up with the others. Sirius was looking slightly panicked.

The flickering lights, as well as Banachek's comment about them 'popping our generators' had Sirius silently cursing. At least Will had the presence of mind to ask about an arms room. They needed every advantage they could get. Especially with Megatron about to wake up, and he sure as hell knew the bastard was not going to be very happy.

"Forty millimeter sabot rounds on that table!" Hearing Simmons shouting that, Sirius felt a little less panicky. They at least had an effective weapon to use against the Decepticons. He may not know how to use a gun, but he quickly helped with hauling the ammo to those tha were loading weapons.

"You got to take me to my car. You have to take me to my car. He's gonna know what to do with the Cube."

"Your car? It's confiscated."

"Then unconfiscate it." Looking up from where he was setting down a case of ammo, Sirius thought his heart was going to stop. He saw Sam arguing with Simmons, but a quick scan of the room revealed that Harry was missing.

"We do not know what will happen if we let it near this thing!"

"You don't know."

"Maybe you know, but I don't know."

"You just wanna sit here and wait and see what happens?"

"I have people's lives at stake here, young man."

"Take him to his car!" Lennox wasn't the only one that had a hand pinning Simmons in place. Sirius had joined him, his hand wrapped around the man's throat.

"Drop your weapon, soldier. There's an alien war going on and you're gonna shoot me?"

"You know, we didn't ask to be here." Sirius doubted that any of them had. He sure as hell wouldn't have been there if he hadn't fallen through the Veil

"I'm ordering you under S-Seven executive jurisdiction."

"S-Seven don't exist." And technically, neither did Sirius, but now wasn't the time to point that out.

"Right. And we don't take orders from people that don't exist."

"I don't take orders from anyone, period. You could be the bloody queen, and I still wouldn't listen to you."

"I'm gonna count to five. Okay."

"Well, I'm gonna count to three."

Ignoring the gun that Lennox had pressed against Simmons, Sirius snarled, tightening the grip he had on the man's throat.

"I'm not going to count. Take us to the kid's car now. My godson is missing and I am not about to lose him in an alien war."

"Simmons?"

"Yes, sir?"

"I'd do what he says. Losing's really not an option for these guys."

"All right. Okay. Hey, you want to lay the fate of the world on the kid's Camaro? That's cool." Sirius didn't care about the fate of the world. Knowing Harry, his godson had probably already found the car and would be trying to find the All Spark next. And he was right. After rushing towards the room, trying not to let panic set in, Sirius found Harry standing in front of a yellow mech. It actually looked a lot friendlier than Megatron, and it was also a lot smaller than the Decepticon leader as well.

"Quit gawking and show us to the Cube. Siri, do we have anything we can arm ourselves with that will be effective?"

"Sabot rounds. They burn hot enough to pierce their armour." Glancing at Epps, Harry nodded, his mind already whirling with various plans to get the Cube away from Megatron and into the Autobots' hands. He was about to speak when he saw the Cube for the first time. It was huge. His worry about how they were going to move it disappeared when it began to shrink in Bumblebee's hands until it was no larger than a small box. It was actually quite an amazing thing to see.

~"Message from Starfleet, Captain. Let's get to it."~

"We need to leave, now."

"The robot and kid are right. We stay here, we're screwed with Megatron in the other hangar. Mission City is twenty-two miles away. We're gonna sneak that Cube out of here and we're gonna hide it somewhere in the city. But we cannot make a stand without the Air Force." Harry opened his mouth to question the logic of taking the Cube into a city full of civilians, when he closed it again. Lennox had probably already considered the possibility of civilian casualties, but it was their only option in getting the Cube out really. The cover the city would provide would be needed. However, he would still add his own thoughts in.

"It would also be good if we can get the local authorities involved in evacuating at least a section of the city. It'll reduce the possibility of casualties when a fight breaks out. And it will make it easier for us to set up a defense if we don't have to split our attention on evacuating the civilians."  
"Secretary, see if you can arrange that. We'll do what we can on our end, but it'll help if you can do something as well. We definitely need the Air Force though. Let's move!" Seeing that Lennox was taking charge, Harry ignored him for a moment so he could speak to Sirius.

"I'm sticking with Sam and Mikaela. You stay with Lennox and Epps. I'm not going to let them get themselves killed."

Sirius looked like he wanted to argue, but his shoulders slumped as he gave a soft sigh. "Fine, just don't get yourself killed either."

Harry didn't do more than nod as he took the Cube from Sam and crawled into Bumblebee's backseat. Just holding the Cube made his bones ache as its power surged through him.

Climbing into the same vehicle as Epps and Lennox, Sirius did his best not to worry, as well as to not fall off. He probably shouldn't have sat in the back were the gun had been mounted, but the vehicle only sat two and Harry had asked him to stick with both Epps and Lennox. His godson was stubborn, something he had gotten from both of his parents. He had also proved again and again that he could take care of himself. He had only been twelve bloody years old when he had faced a basilisk, just fourteen when he had participated in the TriWizard Tournament, not to mention dueling Voldemort when the Dark Lord had been resurrected. Worrying wouldn't do him any good, it would just distract him. Something he couldn't afford, not if he planned on staying alive and making sure that others stayed alive.

**Old Alien Archives**

Following Simmons, Keller silently prayed that the radio would work. Captain Lennox had been right in saying they would need air support. The boy, Harry he thought his name was, was also right about trying to evacuate at least a portion of the city. He could at least pass along an order for the local authorities to listen to the group of soldiers that would be entering the city. The risk of casualties was high, but the Cube needed to be extracted. He did not want to think about what would happen should the Decepticons get it.

"Come on, Mags."

"Over here, sir!" Seeing the web covered radio, Keller hoped that they worked. If they didn't, Lennox and the others would be sitting ducks.

"Give me a minute. Give me a minute." They didn't have a minute, but he knew that sometimes, waiting was all that he could do.

"Come to me, Maxwell, come to me. Plugged in there. We're hot! We're live!" Standing straighter, Keller felt some small amount of relief, that was before Glen spoke.

"Where are the mikes?" Looking around, Maggie felt her heart plummet. Glen was right, there were no mikes.

"Mikes?"

"This doesn't work without mikes, Simmons."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Ignoring Simmons, Maggie quickly moved over to the desk of computers, hoping to find one there. Keller was right, they needed to find them.

"Let's find them."

"Kid, get in the chair! Just get in the chair, all right?"

"Okay, I'll sit. I'll sit."

"They steal everything out of this place."

"How do we get the signal out? How do we call the Air Force?" How would they get a signal out? They couldn't even send an S.O.S. Wait, that could just work.

"Glen?"

"Huh?"

"Can you hotwire this computer to transmit a tone through the radio?" If he could, they would be able to get a signal out after all.

"What good is that?" Rolling her eyes, Maggie tapped the top of the computer before pointing to the radio as she spoke.

"Morse code! You can use this to transmit it through that!"

"Okay, I'll do it! Turn it around. Okay, let's see. Uh, Simmons, I need a screwdriver!" This had better work.

**En-route To Mission City**

They had barely made it away from the dam when he felt Megatron's anger. The distance did little to dull the strength of the rage he felt. The large mech had broken free. "Step on it Bumblebee, Megatron's no longer a Popsicle."

"What, how do you know?" Sam had turned in his seat to stare at him, his eyes wide.

"I can feel them Sam. Optimus and the others are getting closer to us. See, there's Optimus now." And it was true, Optimus and the others passed by them only to pull a u-turn as soon as they were clear of their armed escort. The chances of them surviving the next hour had just gone up, no matter how slightly.

* * *

A/N: So, I hope you've enjoyed. This chapter is longer than the first two chapters, which is rather amusing. The next chapter will be just as long, if not longer than this one. As I said earlier, the sequel is in the works, but won't be posted anytime soon. It will follow the second Transformers movie, but no where near like this one did. I'll just be using a lot of the main ideas from it. Thanks for reading, as always, reviews are very much appreciated, and I am trying my best to take the time to personally thank each reviewer. But until then, thank you for taking the time to review. They are very much appreciated. Thanks for reading and reviewing.


	4. Chapter 4

Dislcaimer: See first chapter.  
Warning: Language, AU, OOC

A/N: Due to technical difficulties, and a surprise visit, I wasn't able to post this yesterday, but I did have it ready to post. But, I'll get into that at the end. Read, enjoy, maybe even review? Hope that you like the final chapter in Barbequed 'Gators.

Key:  
_"Voice speaking through radio/pilots responding to Epps"  
_Optimus, r__adio link_  
=Ironhide, radio link=  
+Optimus broadcasting a radio transmission+_

Word Count: 11,698  
Published: 9 August 2009  
Status: Complete, 4 of 4

* * *

_**Chapter Four:**_

**Old Alien Archives**

Numerous wires later, a couple of shocks, and Glen had just about finished hot-wiring the computer to the radio. "Almost done."

That was good news, at least, it had been good news until Maggie heard something slam against the door, the metal giving an almost groaning screech. She stopped pressing keys as she stared at the door, echoing Simmons question in her mind.

"What the hell was that?"

The door was slammed against again, and this time she could see it moving inwards.

"Barricade the door." Leaving Glen to finish what he was doing, Maggie moved to find something to push against the door while both Simmons and Keller braced themselves against them.

"Get something."

"Watch out!" Grabbing a table, Simmons helped her to shove it over towards the door. In the background, she could hear Glen talking to himself.

"Six, five, four, six, three."

While Simmons used a chair to help keep the doors closed, Keller was breaking the glass on a display case. Pulling out the shotguns within before bringing them over to the door along with the ammo.

"Here, put some rounds into it." Having never held a gun before, Maggie had seen enough movies as well as watching the soldiers earlier to know how to load it. She was perfectly fine with loading the weapons, only flinching slightly as Keller fired through the gap that had appeared through the door, despite their efforts to keep it closed. Maggie was still able to hear Glen talking to himself, which meant he was still working on it.

"Master search. I got! We're transmitting!"

Hearing those words, Keller moved away from the door, leaving Maggie to hold the barricade by herself. Simmons would be back to help her soon enough. They needed to get that signal out, as soon as they possibly could. And he needed to make sure that Glen sent out what he said word for word. "Send exactly what I say!"

Keeping her weight against the table, Maggie hoped that Simmons returned from wherever he had gone. Keller would be busy for at least a few minutes. She didn't have to wait long though as Simmons returned with what she could only guess was a flamethrower.

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way! Burn, you little sucker! Burn!" Moving to the side, Simmons immediately took her spot as he pushed the nozzle through the crack in the doors, the burst of flames causing a flare of even brighter light. She ducked down.

For a moment, Keller stared at the sudden source of light, but quickly turned his attention away from Simmons and his flame thrower. "This is Defense Secretary Keller. Get me NORTHCOM commander."

Whirring metal had him suddenly leaning back to avoid having his head cut off, Glen ducking down as well.

"Whoa!"

"Whoa! What was that?"

Shaking himself, Keller continued speaking. They needed to at least get a message out to the Air Force, because Lennox and his men would sure as hell need the help of an air strike with Megatron, NBE One, whatever he was called after them. He would have Glen send a message about having the base contact the local authorities after he sent out the authenticated order for an air strike. "Authenticate emergency action. Blackbird 1195..."

**Mission City**

"No, no, no, no, no."

"What?"

"It's the same cop! Block them, block them, block them."

Harry didn't dare look behind him to see what Sam and Mikaela were staring at. Not only could he hear the sirens, he feel the approaching Sparks as well. The Decepticons had caught up with them. Gripping the Cube tightly, Harry paid attention to the moving Sparks, not daring to turn around and watch as Optimus confronted one of the two Decepticons. He could only hope that no one died, but knew that it would only be wishful thinking. His thoughts were confirmed when he felt the dark Spark closest to Optimus vanish, as well as the faint tinge of sorrow that Optimus felt at having to take a life, even if it was inevitable.

Sensors picking up on the two approaching Decepticons, Ironhide quickly closed ranks behind Bumblebee with Ratchet. If it wasn't for the fact that he didn't have a bladed weapon, he would have taken on Bonecrusher himself. But, given the fact that if he missed a shot he would very likely hit one of the human driven vehicles, Ironhide merely watched as Optimus transformed and was tackled by the skating Decepticon. Ratchet didn't go because it was too early for him to risk being injured. As their medical officer, Ratchet tended to avoid putting himself in unnecessary danger. He was the one that patched them up after all.

Soon enough, they were out of sight, but his sensors still picked up the moment when Optimus won his fight. That didn't mean he let his guard down. He was fairly sure that he had seen Barricade, and yet the police cruiser had disappeared almost as soon as Bonecrusher had transformed and tackled Optimus. No, he wasn't about to let his guard down, especially with the passengers that Bumblebee carried.

**Old Alien Archives**

"This is so not good." Staring up at the vent, Maggie had to agree with Simmons. This was definitely not good, at all. With both Simmons and Keller firing, she half hoped that they would get the mech, but soon enough it burst through the duct. She dove down on the floor next to Glen. Simmons and Keller also took cover behind the desks, the robot having fallen down onto one of the display cases.

"He's behind the pillar!" Risking a peek, Maggie quickly shared the robots location.

"Shoot that mother..." Glen never finished speaking as they both got a good look at what the whirring metal disks were. The serrated, shuriken like blades were not something they wanted to be hit with.

"Maggie, cover fire!" Catching the shot gun Simmons threw her, Maggie did as she was asked.

"It's the Air Force! They're responding!" Glen's shout came moments before Simmons once more appeared with his flamethrower.

"Sucker, burn!" Another metal disk whirred through the air, all of them instinctively ducking. She looked up just in time to see the crazy robot get decapitated by it's own weapon. She was also fairly sure that it had spoke, but she wasn't positive of the words. It did sound a lot like, 'oh, shit' though.

"Yes! They're sending F-22s to the city!" Smiling, Maggie put her shotgun down with relief. With the Air Force sending help, it was less likely that the three teenagers she had seen would get hurt, or even worse, killed.

With the homicidal mech out of commission, as well as the news about the Air Force having at least responded to sending help to the city, Keller lowered his shot gun with relief. He could picture what must have been happening at the base. Pilots were being given their orders even as they scrambled into their jets and got ready to take off. The others must have reached Mission City by now, which meant that they would have possibly a ten minute wait until pilots were circling the city waiting to be contacted. Hopefully, the Air Force was also able to contact the local police department, as well as the fire department and anyone else that would be able to help evacuate at least the portion of the city that fights would undoubtedly break out in. Harry had been right after all. There really wasn't anyway that they would be getting the Cube away without a fight of some kind, and it was smart to try and evacuate the civilians prior to their arrival.

"Um, Maggie, are you sure that thing's dead?" Turning towards the others, Keller saw the three gathered around the headless mech. At least, it had been headless. Now, he could see that wires had somehow reconnected it to the body and a few thin pieces of metal were attempting to reattach the head more securely. The thing was still alive.

"Simmons, gather some men and secure that robot for transportation. He is to stay in your sight at all times. We still don't know how our systems had been hacked from Air Force One. From what I've seen, that's the only one small enough to get around the plane undetected. I want that robot secured and ready for transportation within the hour."

"Yes sir."

"Glen, contact the Air Force again. I want a clean up crew on their way to the city." And they would need a clean up crew because he highly doubted that there would be only minor damage done. The robots were too large, and judging by the amount of damage that the small silver one they had confronted had done, they were really going to need a clean up crew. As he was busy giving an authenticated order, he absently watched as Maggie helped Simmons to bind the arms and legs of the mech with duct tape. It probably wouldn't hold the mech for long, but it was better than nothing. At least, it would work until something more secure could be acquired.

"They're sending helicopters here to pick you up Mr. Secretary."

"Make sure that they have radios. I need to get in contact with Lennox and his men as soon as possible. They'll be able to tell us what is going on." Keller didn't dare think about how the group of soldiers might be unable to respond because they were dead. They had already proved once that they could handle being attacked by alien robots, and this time they were prepared and knew what was going on.

**Mission City**

Stopping at a pawn shop, Lennox ordered for one of his men and three of the Sector Seven soldiers to contact the police and any other local authority figures and organize the evacuation of the immediate area. Once they were moving, he quickly entered the building and found some radios. This time, he was prepared for the possibility of having to pay and pulled out a credit card. Thankfully, the pawn shop took plastic.

"Come on, let's go. Mount up!" Running towards the vehicle he was driving, he handed Epps the radios he had gotten before darting around to the other side.

"Here, I got shortwave radios."

"Wait. What am I supposed to do with these?" The voice was tinged with disbelief, but Lennox knew they didn't have time to be picky.

"Well, use them! It's all we got!" Climbing through the window, Lennox quickly started the driving, making sure that Sirius was with them. The man might not have been a trained soldier, but he was handling the situation rather well.

"This is like Radio Shack dinosaur radios or something, man. I'm only gonna get twenty or thirty miles out of these things. Are there any aircraft orbiting the city?"

Looking around, Lennox only partly paid attention to where he was driving. There were hardly any vehicles about, which clearly meant that either Keller had gotten the message out about evacuating at least part of the city, or the men he had ordered to do so were really good. Either way, it was a good thing for them. He almost wanted to curse the tall buildings as he scanned the skies for any thing in the air, but they were part of the reason why they had come to the city. The tall buildings would provide them with cover.

"F-22 at 12 o'clock. All right, I want planes for air cover and we're gonna get Black Hawks on station to extract that Cube. You got it?" Pulling to a stop, Lennox quickly climbed out, noting that further down the street civilians were being directed away. Harry had been right about trying to get the area evacuated beforehand. They would be spread thin if some of his men had to evacuate the civilians. If a gun fight broke out, panic would have happened and chaos would occur.

"Air Force has arrived! Pop smoke!"

"Raptor, Raptor, do you copy? We have you visual. Green smoke is the mark. Provide air cover and vector Black Hawks for extraction."

"It's Starscream!" The transformed Ironhide was not a good sign.  
"Please tell me you copy."

"Back up. Take cover. Bumblebee." Seeing Ironhide and Bumblebee picking up a truck, Lennox stared wide eyed for a moment before hissing out curses.

He was seeing what Ironhide had seen. That F-22 was attacking them. Lennox gave a curse. "No, no, no, no! Move!"

"Back up! Back up!"

"Retreat! Fall back!" Grabbing Sirius, Lennox dragged the man with him. He had helped to save Fig's life, he sure as hell wasn't about to let the man get killed now.

"Incoming!" Ironhide's shout was warning enough as he dove for cover, dragging down Sirius with him. Hearing the explosion, Lennox decided that he needed to get Harry something. The kid had probably saved a lot of lives and even more people from getting hurt by suggesting they evacuate the area. Even with the warning, a second explosion knocked him off his feet and into the side of a building, Sirius and Epps right next to him. Lennox just knew he was going to feel the bruises a long time after this was over.

Seeing the F-22, Ironhide almost thought it was one of the humans'. That was before his sensors had picked up on the fact that it most definitely wasn't. It was Starscream. He wasted no time in transforming out of his alt mode, ordering the humans to back up and take cover as he had Bumblebee help him support a truck to take the brunt of the attack. This was not good. At the very least though, there didn't seem to be any humans that close to them. Bracing himself, he called out a warning. Seconds later, he found himself being blasted to the side and into a building.

Shaking himself, he got up, noticing immediately that Bumblebee had lost his legs. He also noticed that Harry was laying motionless on the ground. For a moment, he thought that the teenager was dead, but a quick scan revealed the boy was alive, if suffering from possibly cracked ribs and numerous cuts. Optics narrowing, Ironhide gave an almost inaudible snarl. He was going to tear that slagging jet apart piece by piece. Bumblebee was young, but this wasn't the first time he had gotten hurt. Ironhide had learned to accept it when it happened, but he made sure that he at least severely injured the Decepticon responsible. Seeing Harry hurt though, Ironhide was feeling even angrier than he had when Bumblebee had first been seriously hurt. He was going to tear Starscream apart and then use the pieces as target practice.

There was a reason that the Decepticons were cautious about hurting the younger Autobots in front of him. More often than not, they would either find themselves dead, close to it, or missing a limb or two. It would seem that Starscream needed a reminder of just why Optimus called him his weapons specialist, not to mention why most Decepticons fled when he was present and there was an injured Autobot he considered to be a youngling in the area. Ironhide tended to use any moving Decepticon as target practice for every weapon he had in his arsenal. Starscream had just painted a very large target on his aft by hurting not only Bumblebee, but Harry as well.

As Lennox went to get radios, and a few men left to organize the evacuation of the area, Harry silently wished that he not only had his wand, but knew a few strong Muggle repelling charms. If he could put one up around them, then bystanders were less likely to get hurt. Of course, it would also repel the police, which they needed to help evacuate the area. That was something he didn't need. And even worse, it may effect the pilots, which they needed. Thankfully though, it seemed that the area was being evacuated quickly with no problems. That was a good thing, a very good thing. Still holding the Cube, Harry tried to find Optimus. He knew that the Autobot leader was still alive, but he wasn't very close to the city. Concentrating hard, he picked up on the mech's Spark, relieved to notice that although it was rather far away, Optimus was moving towards them.

Climbing out of the Camaro when they stopped, Harry felt a small amount of relief when he saw the jet. Keller had managed to contact the Air Force. His grip tightening on the Cube, Harry was fairly sure that there would be imprints left when he finally let go. Staying close to Sam and Mikaela, Harry stretched out his senses as far as he could, trying to sense where the Decepticons were, more importantly, were Megatron was. The Decepticon leader wasn't hard to find, his insanity and tainted Spark was like a beacon to him, and despite the fact he was almost as far away as Optimus, he was moving a lot faster. That wasn't good, but hopefully the Cube would be gone before Megatron arrived. Looking for the other Decepticons, Harry found three of them, noting that one of them was on the ground while the other two were in the air. Eyes widening, Harry cursed, just moments before Ironhide transformed, confirming what he had just realized. The jet was a Decepticon. And they had painted a large target for it using green smoke.

Shoving the Cube into Sam's arms, he quickly pushed the two older teens further away from where Ironhide and Bumblebee were lifting a Furby truck. He had just pushed the two down behind a parked car when Ironhide shouted his warning. Harry was knocked off his feet. The force of the blast slammed him into the side of a car, actually denting it before he bounced off and hit the ground, cracking a couple more ribs. Lying face down on the street, Harry struggled to catch his breath, his ears ringing. His chest blazed with pain, his lungs burning with each breath he took. It was almost impossible to breathe. He could sense his godfather's worry, as well as Ironhide's. If they could worry, Harry knew that they were alive and probably unharmed. Turning his head slightly, he was hit with Bumblebee's pain at about the same time he saw the yellow mech.

He was missing both of his legs, but beneath the pain, Harry felt a steely determination from the mech. Seeing Sam and Mikaela, Harry almost gave a sigh of relief, but stopped himself just in time. His lungs were already burning enough from trying to breathe, he wasn't going to do anything unnecessary. Forcing himself to his feet, he swayed dangerously, but managed to stay standing. Slowly, he made his way over to the three, finding it easier to breath with each step. That may have been because he had found a rhythm though. It didn't matter though as he clenched his jaw, forcing the pain to the back of his mind. He was even able to ignore the sting and trickle of sticky blood that let him know he not only had cracked ribs, but numerous cuts and scrapes from being knocked off his feet as well as from flying debris. He was so focused on ignoring the pain, he barely even heard what was being shouted.

"Anybody hurt? Everyone okay?" He was hurt, but Harry wasn't about to tell Lennox that. There really wasn't anything that could be done until after they got the Cube out of the city and away from the Decepticons.

"Clear the area."

Finally reaching Sam and Mikaela, Harry felt some small amount of relief to see that the two were relatively unharmed. Staring at Bumblebee, Harry found himself almost frozen in place as he fully saw just how injured the mech was.

"Ratchet!" Harry winced as Sam shouted. He was in enough pain already without having to add to it.

"What the hell was that?!" Sinking further down between the two, Sirius winced slightly. He was going to stay out of this argument.

"What are you talking about?" He was definitely staying out of this argument.

"What do you mean, what am I talking about? They shot at us!" Sinking lower, he searched for Harry, relieved to see his godson near Sam and Mikaela. He was hurt, but he was alive, and that was what mattered. He would heal with time, and unlike Bumblebee, he hadn't lost any limbs. The yellow mech had lost both of his legs just below the knee.

"F-22 pilots would never fly below buildings. That's alien. That ain't friendly!" Unable to resist, Sirius had to comment on that last remark.

"What was your first clue? The fact he tried to kill us, or that he's one of Megatron's minions?" Whatever Epps was going to say was cut off as a voice crackled over the radio.

_"Army Black Hawk inbound to your location. Over."_ Finally, they needed those guys here a good fifteen minutes ago.

"Alpha 273, ten miles. November Victor, 1.2 clicks north." Epps had barely finished speaking when two small explosions occurred, showering them in dirt. Almost as one, the three of them glance over the top of the torn up bit of street they were currently using as cover. A tank was firing on them. Things just kept getting better and better.

Hearing the whistle of a projectile cutting through the air, Harry turned just in time to see two small explosions shower his godfather, Lennox, and Epps in dirt. Looking down the street, Harry found himself extremely grateful that the area had been evacuated. Watching the tank run over a parked car, Harry was extremely thankful that they seemed to be the only people around. With the streets clear of vehicles, Jazz had to swerve around very little as he made his way toward the tank, Ratchet right behind him. Remembering what it had been like the night after the Quidditch World Cup, Harry knew that things could have been far worse. Without anyone in the area, there wasn't a crowd of panicking screaming people, hurting each other in the chaos that would result in an attempt to get away. He was very thankful that he didn't have to experience it again.

"Move out! Let's go!"

Lennox's order snapped him back to the present, and it seemed that he wasn't the only one. Mikaela darted off, but after seeing where she was headed, Harry turned his attention to finding the Cube. He absently wondered if his trip through the Veil was the reason why he no longer needed glasses, but decided to ponder the thought later. Carefully searching the ground for the Cube, Harry continued to ignore the pain he was in. With the sheer amount of energy the Cube gave off, it was impossible for him to pin point its exact location, which was why he was carefully scanning the ground. He needed to find the Cube.

"No, I'm not leaving you." Looking up, Harry watched as Bumblebee gently pressed the Cube into Sam's hands. Well, he no longer had to look for it.

Swerving to the side, Ironhide narrowly avoided being hit. Annoyed, he transformed out of his alt mode, his momentum carrying him forward into what would have been a roll if he hadn't used his cannons to fire at the ground. They lifted him high enough to avoid being hit by another shot before he was on his feet, only to dive forward over yet another couple of missiles. He grinned as he saw Jazz transform, jumping onto the tank. Even as Brawl transformed out of his alt mode, Jazz stayed on him, using his small size to his advantage as he kicked off one of the Decepticon's shoulder launchers. Unfortunately for Jazz, Brawl grabbed him by his leg, flinging him into a building.

Ironhide wasn't too worried though. Jazz was already back and launching an attack of his own just moments after he hit the tank with a shot from each of his cannons. Seconds after Jazz hit Brawl, Ratchet flipped over the tank, his saw cutting off one of his arms. Moving closer, Ironhide was going to get a few more shots off when Lennox and his men downed the tank wtih a few well aimed shots. It was rather impressive. He would have to discuss weapons with Lennox later. Before he could give the idea much more thought, Megatron arrived. This was not good.

"It's Megatron. Retreat! Move! Fall back!"

Cursing, Ironhide listened to Ratchet's orders as he fired at the Decepticon leader, giving the humans time to scramble away. Seeing Jazz attack the Megatron, Ironhide snarled. The silver mech was going to get himself killed sooner than later if he kept attacking Decepitcons more than twice his size. Primus, Jazz wasn't even as big as one of Megatron's arms. Shaking his head, Ironhide left Jazz to fend for himself. If the smaller mech survived, Ironhide would make sure Jazz would think twice about doing something so foolish again. Still snarling to himself, Ironhide was just grateful that there weren't any humans about. It had been the right decision to evacuate the area.

Standing completely frozen, Harry almost stopped breathing. Megatron was here and extremely close to where they were. He was snapped out of his frozen state by Mikaela showing up with a tow truck. "Sam, help me with this."

Ignoring that he was ignored, Harry quickly moved to help Mikaela wrap cables and chains around Bumblebee. The sooner it was done, the sooner she could get Bumblebee out of the area. They were nearly half way done when he felt a deranged joy coming from Megatron's Spark. Jumping down, Harry ignored how his ribs protested the move and focused on Megatron. He could feel that deranged joy as well as the intent to destroy the closest Spark to him. He had barely blinked when he identified the Spark as Jazz's.

"No." The word was whispered, but it didn't matter as his magic pulsed through him and he disappeared with a resounding crack, reappearing on Jazz's chest just in time to hear Megatron's voice.

"No! I want two!" Metal groaned beneath him, but the sound didn't last for long as once again Harry felt his magic surge through him and felt the sensation of being squeezed through a small tube before finding himself on the outskirts of Mission City, as far away from the battle as they could get without actually leaving the city. He was still sitting on top of Jazz's chest, the sleek mech looking utterly confused. Instead of pondering how he had aparrated not only himself, but Jazz across the city, Harry quickly slid off the silver mech. They needed to get back to where the others were, as soon as possible.

Hearing the unmistakable sound of apparition, Sirius felt his heart stop. Panic trying to claw its way into his mind, Sirius frantically searched for Harry, only forced to stop by Lennox dragging him forward. Moving on his own, he noticed that Sam and Mikaela were hooking Bumblebee to a tow truck. Harry was no where in sight though. Shaking himself, he forced back his urge to panic and moved to help Mikaela. Panicking wouldn't do him any good. Climbing onto the back of the tow truck, Sirius swiftly moved the cables around, doing as Mikaela asked him to. Once Mikaela and Sam were safe, he would focus on keeping Lennox and Epps alive until everything was over. Only then would he allow himself to panic and worry about Harry. After all, Harry would skin him alive if he allowed either man to die.

"All right, I can't leave my guys back there, so here, take this flare. Okay, there's a tall, white building with statues on top. Go to the roof. Set the flare."

"No." Hearing Sam say no, Sirius grabbed the teen and spun him around so they were face to face.

"You will listen to him. We don't have time to argue. Just because no one is here, it doesn't mean the city is empty. Lennox and his men can't get the Cube to safety and distract the Decepticons at the same time. Do what he tells you." Snarling, Sirius let Sam go to continue helping Mikaela with the last couple of cables.

"Listen, get to the roof and signal the choppers with the flare. We'll hold them off, get going."

Noticing that Lennox was about to waste time arguing with Mikaela, Sirius quickly spoke up. "Lennox, I'll get her out of here as soon as we're done. There's only a few more cables to attach and she'll be gone."

Seemingly satisfied, Lennox turned and began to organize his men. That tank wasn't dead yet and to make things worse, they had another two Decepticons to deal with, and that wasn't including Megatron.

"Sam, we will protect you." Hearing that, Sirius felt better about letting Sam take the Cube. Mikaela wasn't going to be in too much danger as soon as she left, and with the two mechs protecting Sam, he was unlikely to die. That just left him making sure that neither Epps or Lennox died. He was almost positive that Harry would show up if Sam was in serious danger of dying. Whatever had him apparating must have been serious. Harry wouldn't have left Sam and Mikaela otherwise.

"Sam! No matter what happens, I'm really glad I got in that car with you." Staring, Sirius felt the urge to burst into laughter well up in his throat. Even in the middle of an alien robot war, there was still the drama of teenage romance. Thinking about Harry, Sirius couldn't help but shudder. When his godson finally started dating, Sirius knew that there would be one disaster after another, and that wasn't counting the normal drama. He was not looking forward to the day Harry went out on his first day. Knowing his godson's luck, his date would either get kidnapped, or something equally disastrous would happen.

"Sam! Get to the building! Move!" Ironhide couldn't have picked a better time to remind the two love birds of the situation. Sam had barely started moving away when Megatron spoke, ordering the attack. They needed to get that Cube out of the city.

"Decepticons, attack!" Securing the final cable, Sirius nearly lost his balance as the ground shook.

"Black!"

"She's leaving now." Checking the cables one last time to make sure they were secure, Sirus turned to Mikaela just as she was about to get into the cab.

"Get out of here. Find somewhere to hide and stay there." Accepting her quick nod as agreement, Sirius moved towards Lennox, accepting one of the guns he was handed. He may not know anything about them, but he did know he would be able to point and shoot the thing at the robots. If he was lucky, he would actually hit the Decepticon, if not, well there weren't any people in the area that could get hit. Probably why he was even given a gun in the first place. After this was over though, Sirius was definitely going to ask Lennox and Epps to teach him how to shoot and actually hit what he wanted to hit.

With Ratchet covering the rear, keeping a Brawl distracted, Ironhide took point. He hadn't seen Harry, but he would worry about the small teen after they got Sam to the building. At the moment, he could only hope that the teen was still alive. He had to focus if he was going to protect Sam so he could get the Cube out of the city. Seeing Blackout, Ironhide picked up a car with a growl, snarling as he was knocked into a building. Lousy Decepticon scum.

Driving as fast as he could, Optimus felt a small amount of relief as he plowed through a blocked street, heading for where he could faintly sense Megatron. With the general area evacuated, there was a lower chance of the humans getting caught in the middle of their war. As far as he could tell, both Ratchet and Ironhide were near the Cube. If he distracted Megatron, they may just be able to get it out of the city. Turning sharply, his tires squealed a bit as he came to a stop. He was transforming out of his alt mode even before he completely stopped. Their war had gone on long enough, Optimus was ready to end it.

"Megatron!"  
"Prime!"

Their greetings exchanged, Megatron wasted no time in transforming and speeding towards him. Taking a few steps forward, Optimus was ready as he got a good grip on one of the Decepticons wings. He barely adjusted his grip in time to prevent himself from falling as Megatron spun, knicking the corner of one building before they crashed through another. Landing on the street, the two leaders rolled as they grappled with each other. Moments later, they came to a stop, and Optimus found himself pinned down, Megatron straddling him, holding his arms down as he leaned over to snarl in his face.

"Humans don't deserve to live."

"They deserve to choose for themselves." Working his left arm free, Optimus grabbed the larger mech's face, shoving him away.

"Then you will die with them!" His arm slapped away, Optimus had no time to react as a clawed hand grabbed his chest and he was flung away. Ignoring the screams of the few humas in the area, he scrambled to his feet.

"Join them in extinction!" Seeing Megatron combining his hands to form one of his favorite weapons, Optimus moved forward, swiftly grabbing the gun that had formed on his back. His shot was true, but Megatron simply stumbled back briefly before firing on his own. Hit dead center in the chest, Optimus found himself flying through the air before colliding with the building. Falling, he landed heavily on his back. His limbs protested with several creaks as he tried to sit up, only to fall flat again. A systems check revealed that a few programs were short circuiting, which meant he was stuck where he was for at least five minutes as everything rebooted. The blow hadn't been meant to kill him, but incapacitate him. If Megatron wasn't so intent on getting the Cube, Optimus was fairly sure that he would already be dead.

"Keep moving, Sam! Don't stop!" Seeing Starscream, Ironhide saw red. Both cannons fully charged, he blasted the slagger full force. He was going to make the scum pay. So focused on Starscream, Ironhide failed to notice Blackout until he was knocked off his feet. Starscream took that moment to transform and escape. His rage leaving him, Ironhide quickly searched for Sam. Seeing him unharmed, he struggled to stand. Ratchet seemed to be having similar trouble as well.

"Sam, get to the building!" That seemed to be all the encouragement the teen needed as he was once more on his feet running as quickly as his legs would carry him. They needed to get the Cube out of there. Once that was done, he could hunt down Starscream and tear the slagger apart and use the pieces for target practice.

Placing the truck in park, Mikaela rested her forehead against the steering wheel. What was she doing? Sam was risking his life trying to get the Cube out of the city and here she was hiding in an alleyway. Taking a deep breath, Mikaela shifted the truck into drive. Turning around, she met Bumblebee's gaze, somehow knowing the mech understood her determination. "I'll drive! You shoot!"

Receiving a nod, she wasted no time in slamming down on the gas, skidding out of the alley way. If she circled around, Bumblebee would have a clear shot at the tank from a direction it wouldn't be expecting. That just may give the edge he would need to take the tank down. Stopping the truck, she turned to look over her shoulder so she could better see where she was going as she threw the vehicle into reverse, slamming her foot down on the gas. "Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!"

He didn't know how it happened, but Sirius found himself taking cover with the others in the pawn shop that Lennox had gotten the radios from. The tank just didn't seem to want to die, no matter how many times they hit or how many parts they managed to knock off. Hell, he had even managed to hit it four out of five times now, a vast improvement from one out of fifteen shots.

"This isn't going well."

"I thought that was obvious by now. I've actually been able to improve my shooting so much that I'm able to actually hit something." The sarcastic comment slipped past his lips before Sirius even thought about it. Wow, he wasn't nearly this sarcastic before. Maybe it was the stress of being caught in the middle of an alien war.

Ducking back behind the thin column of bricks he was using for cover, Sirius muttered curses under his breath. Bloody hell did he wish he had his wand. Maybe then he could kill the bugger with some blasting hexes, or maybe some really powerful magical flames would do the trick. He would almost consider using Fiendfire if it wasn't so hard to control. He wanted to kill the bugger, not destroy the city.

He wasn't able to think about more spells he would use if he had his wand as the tank suddenly staggered sideways. Sticking his head out of the building, he caught a glimpse of Bumblebee moving towards them before he was dragged back inside by Epps. With Bumblebee's arrival, it didn't take long for the tank's head to be blown off. Mikaela didn't stop the tow truck until Bumblebee was right in front of the Decepticon's fallen body.

"Nice shot." Snorting, Sirius shot Mikaela a smirk. He didn't know her, but somehow he got the feeling that she would have done well in either Gryffindor or Slytherin, probably both. That was actually a scary combination, one he had realized fit his godson remarkably well.

"That tank is definitely dead now." Looking down at the head, Sirius gave a feral smile. It was most definitely dead.

"All right, let's go! We got business!"

Still able to feel the various Sparks, as well as the Cube, Harry tried not to panic. Optimus had made it to the city and had fought with Megatron for awhile, then something happened and for the last minute Harry hadn't sensed the Prime's Spark move from where it was. If it wasn't for that fact that he could feel Optimus' Spark, he would have believed the Autobot leader to be dead. Megatron's Spark screamed of anticipation and excitement, which didn't assure Harry at all as he felt him getting closer to the Cube. He was also able to feel a twisted sense of pleasure. Megatron was playing with his prey, allowing Sam to think he had a chance of escaping.

Hopefully, it would prove a mistake for Megatron, just like it had for Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Playing with their victims, that was one reason why he hadn't died sooner. In second year, 'Tom Riddle' had boasted about himself, how he had killed the boy that had defeated him. That had given Fawkes enough time to heal him with his tears. Then, in his fourth year after his resurrection, Voldemort had insisted on dueling with him. If he hadn't done that, he wouldn't have been able to escape from the graveyard that night with Cedric. And last, but not least, the Death Eaters had taunted them in the Department of Mysteries, and then they were upset over the fact that children dared to defy them. It had also led to the destruction of the prophecy, which had been the Death Eaters' main goal for being there. They had failed, and he just knew that the Dark Lord would not be pleased. Harry could only hope that it would be the same with Megatron. The Decepticon would not get the All Spark because he chose to play, giving either Sam the chance to get away or for one of the Autobots the time to interfere.

"Jazz, quickly transform. We need to get to the Cube before Megatron does." Seeming to decide that questions weren't important at the moment, Jazz transformed into the sleek silver Porsche in a whirl of metal and clicks. Diving into the passenger seat, the car was already moving before the door had slammed shut.

Using the All Spark as a homing beacon, Harry quickly directed Jazz through the various streets. Ignoring the police blocks, Jazz plowed right through them. Because he was focused on the Cube, Harry was able to sense it plummeting towards the ground. Realizing that someone had to have the Cube, most likely Sam or Sirius, Harry felt his magic surge towards the surface. Just when he thought he was about to apparate again, his magic slowly faded. Optimus had caught whoever held the Cube, but Megatron was also very close to the two. He couldn't relax just yet.

Once he was able to move again, Optimus was racing towards where Megatron was. He was nearly there when he was forced to ditch past a falling helicopter. "Hang on Sam! I'm coming."

He wasn't sure if the boy could hear him, but it didn't matter. Scaling the side of the building, he made it just in time to catch Sam as he fell. "I got you boy. Hold onto the Cube!"

Holding him close to his chest, his hand protecting the teen from being hurt too badly, Optimus twisted into a fall as his face plates slid into place, almost like a mask. Jumping between the two buildings to control his fall, he made sure that his hold on Sam kept the teen from getting hurt. He was almost half way down when Megatron landed on his back, sending the two spiraling down. Luckily, he landed on his back and managed to avoid crushing Sam between his hand and chest. Megatron had landed only yards away from him. Carefully, he moved his hand away, revealing Sam's curled, but uninjured form.

"Sam?" The teen looked up at him, still holding the Cube to him tightly in one arm.

"You risked your life to protect the Cube."

"No sacrifice, no victory." Staring at Sam, Optimus made his choice. They had failed in getting the Cube out. This war had to end.

"If I cannot defeat Megatron, you must push the Cube into my chest. I will sacrifice myself to destroy it. Get behind me."

With Sam safely off his chest, Optimus pulled himself out of the crater as he turned over, pushing himself to his feet. "It's you and me, Megatron."

"No, it's just me, Prime." Both of them were now on their feet.

"At the end of this day, one shall stand, one shall fall."

"You still fight for the weak! That is why you lose!" Flung into yet another building, Optimus wondered if there was any truth to Megatron's statement. He didn't think fighting for the weak made him lose, but was it a weakness of his own that would cause him to lose this fight? Even with how evil Megatron had become, a part of him didn't want to see the mech dead.

Running, Sirius kept pace with the others, only to come to a skidding halt as a helicopter passed by in front of them, transforming into the same robot that had attacked the base in Qatar.

"Fighter jets in sixty seconds." Glancing at Epps, Sirius began a mental count down. A minute may not seem long, but it was long enough.

"We got friendlies mixed with bad guys. Targets will be marked."

"Hey. Bring the rain. All right?" Staring at Lennox, Sirius cursed. The man was going to do something stupid.

"All right, let's kill these things." Following behind him, Sirius kept muttering curses. The man was most definitely going to do something extremely stupid. If it got him killed, Sirius vowed to find a way to bring him back to life so he could kill the man himself.

"Move, move, move!"

"Remember, aim low. Armor's weak under the chest." Sirius was wondering if he would be able to hit the mech in the arse when he saw Lennox climbing onto an abandoned motorcycle out of the corner of his eye. Damn, and he was accused of being reckless. That must mean Lennox had a death wish of some sort.

They had nearly twenty seconds left when the Decepticon noticed the green laser on it's hand. They no longer had the element of surprise, and now they were sitting ducks. "Move out!"

Scrambling behind some cover, Sirius felt his respect for Lennox increase as he watched the man slide on his back between Blackout's legs, getting off a shot even as a couple of missiles hit the robot right as he was sliding beneath it. Lennox had just gotten clear when it collapsed, dead.

"Run! Move!"

They were almost there when Harry felt Optimus and the Cube right next to each other before Optimus moved away and closer to Megatron. He had been right, Megatron had spent too long playing with his prey and now he was paying the price for it. Urging Jazz to drive even faster, they came to a stop just meters away from where Megatron and Optimus were fighting. They were standing in the middle of an intersection, punching and kicking each other. Weapons had become useless to them at that point. Harry was out of the car and running to Sam in seconds. Taking the Cube from him, he shoved the teenager into a crater before Megatron could squash him beneath his clawed hand. The two leaders were both down now. Optimus because of Megatron, and the Decepticon Leader because the Air Force had finally arrived, missiles slamming into the large mech even as Lennox and Epps, their team, and members of Sector Seven gave cover fire of their own. Sirius was there as well. Optimus was on his back, trying to get up as Megatron crawled towards him.

"I'll kill you!" Like he had never heard that before. Ever since he had started Hogwarts, someone or something had tried to kill him. At least a third to half of them were because of Voldemort.

"Mine! All Spark!" Wow, how articulate. Pondering his sarcastic thoughts, Harry was brought back to the current threat to his life by Optimus' shouting.

"Harry! Put the Cube in my chest! Now! Harry!"

Ignoring Optimus shouting for him to put the Cube into his chest, not to mention the gunfire and explosions, Harry surged forward and shoved it into Megatron's chest, screaming as the energy from combining the Cube and Megatron's Spark surged through him. Even when Megatron fell over dead and the Cube was no longer held in his hands, Harry still felt the energy coursing through him and intertwining with his magic. The sheer amount was enough to threaten his sanity. There was a reason why they said that power corrupted, and it wasn't just morally. Too much power would corrupt a wizard's sanity. One of reason why the Dark Arts were so dangerous. They gave a sense of being even more powerful. With one last hoarse cry, he collapsed to his knees and was only saved from falling flat on his face by large metal fingers carefully catching him. He caught a brief glimpse of Optimus and concerned blue optics and a figure that he thought was Sam before everything went black. It was actually a relief, considering just how the Cube's energy had him feeling as if he was suffering from magical overload. Being unconscious was better than feeling as if he was being burned alive as his magic absorbed the Cube's energy into itself.

Rushing forward, Sirius carefully took his godson into his arms, his body sagging with relief as he noted Harry's steady breathing and strong pulse. When he had heard the unmistakable sound of apparation, Sirius had felt his heart stop. The only thing that had kept him from full out panic was the current threat to his life, which had forced him to deal with the present situation. Once Sam had been sent away with the Cube, Ratchet and Ironhide providing cover for him, he had helped Mikaela to finish hitching Bumblebee to the tow truck so she could get the both of them away from the direct line of fire. Of course, she showed up minutes later with Bumblebee, the yellow mech killing the tank and saving their collective arses.

He had then been too busy worrying about Lennox getting himself killed to think about where Harry was. Not to mention the helicopter that had attacked the base in Qatar. Once he was dead, they moved to provide cover fire for Optimus and for a second time, he felt his heart stop as he caught sight of Harry taking the Cube from Sam and pushing the older teen into the safety of a crater, saving him from being crushed. When he had seen Harry lunge towards Megatron, Sirius had stopped breathing all together as he heard his godson's scream, even with all of the explosions and gunfire going on.

Hugging Harry close, Sirius was roused into moving by Lennox and Epps. Still cuddling his godson close, he found himself seated in the silver Porsche and driving out of the city minutes later, the other Autobots in front of or behind them. It actually looked like Bumblebee was sitting on where a trailer would be hitched on the flame decaled big rig, various sheets and tarps hiding the mech from view. It was also likely that Ironhide was carrying Bumblebee's legs in his bed, also likely covered.

"Bloody hell Pup, are you trying to kill me? What were you thinking, shoving the Cube into Megatron's chest? Were you even thinking? I could lock you away somewhere and you would still manage to find yourself in a dangerous situation. Then again, you would kick my arse if I tried. If I didn't know you Emeralds, I'd swear you were trying to give me a heart attack." Sighing, he slumped in his seat and shook his head. He really shouldn't blame Harry, it wasn't his fault that they ended up involved in an alien robot war.

"Ya do know he can't hear ya, right?" Slightly startled by the voice coming from the speakers, Sirius glared.

"Which is exactly why I'm talking. Harry will be feeling guilty enough over killing Megatron and destroying the Cube when he wakes up. He doesn't need to feel even more guilt knowing how worried I was. I'm venting my worries and frustrations now so I can be there for him when he wakes up. He'll need me to be calm, and I'll bloody hell will be before he wakes up." He may not act his age most of the time, but Sirius had grown up some while he was in Azkaban.

He had become even more mature since his escape and meeting his godson. Harry had taught him rather quickly that he wasn't a normal child and wouldn't be treated as one. It also probably helped that Moony had spoken with him during Harry's fourth year, the werewolf making it clear that Harry was mature for his age in some ways, and completely naive in others. Never had he seen the usually mild man so scary looking. Remus had out right threatened to tear him apart as slowly as possible without actually killing him if he were to somehow hurt Harry. Despite being a werewolf, or maybe because of it, Remus was rarely ever violent. Even when attacked, Remus would usually only defend himself. That more than anything had made Sirius grow up and truly start acting his age. At least, when the situation called for him to.

"Can I help?" Silently considering the offer, Sirius wondered if the silver Autobot could help him calm down faster.

A good shag, destroying a room with liberal use of curses, a bottle of firewhiskey, or taking a long drive on his motorcycle usually had him calm again within a few hours. He had also taken to speaking with Buckbeak to calm himself down, but the Hippogriff wasn't here in this world so that wasn't an option he could even consider. The first three options were out, since he wouldn't ask Jazz to help him find someone for the first, he didn't have his wand or a clue as to where he could find it for the second, and getting piss drunk was an extremely bad idea when he didn't have a hangover cure handy. His last choice was probably the best idea. Feeling the wind in his hair would help to relax him, which he could accomplish by sticking his head out the window while Jazz drove. It was better than pacing and ranting to himself.

"Yeah, you can. Take me for a bit of a drive. I'll ride with my head out the window. It won't be exactly the same as my motorcycle, but the wind in my face should help me relax. Getting drunk wouldn't be the smartest thing to do right now, since I'm not sure how long Pup will sleep. An hour or two with the wind in my hair and the scenery flying by will really help. I just need someone to watch over Harry just in case he wakes up before we get back, someone he would recognize."

"Ironhide. He's been around Harry the longest. Plus, I think he likes the kid."

"Fine. If something happens to Harry though while in his care, I'll turn him into scrap with my bare hands." Eyes like shards of ice, the underlying growl in his words would have even made Snape think twice about pissing him off. And the snarky potions master always looked for a way to aggravate him.

Watching as Ratchet repaired and reattached Bumblebee's legs, Ironhide made sure that his cab was warm, but not too warm to make the teen sleeping in his backseat uncomfortable. He had believed Sirius when the man snarled how he would be turned into scrap if something was to happen to his godson while Jazz took him for a ride so he could calm down. Once the man had been sure that he would protect his godson with his life, Sirius had quietly explained that it would be best if he was calm when Harry woke up. Ironhide had silently agreed with that reasoning. With no more inminent threat to his life, Harry now had a chance to fully process everything that happened in the last few days. Ironhide wasn't sure how the youngling would react, but he had a feeling that it would be rough for the teen he had ran over.

__Ironhide, why did you bring Harry with you?_ _Wincing when he heard Optimus' question, Ironhide quickly steeled himself for what was not going to be a pleasant conversation.

_=It was like he said. I ran him over, and couldn't just leave him there when he was possibly injured. I figured that Ratchet would be able to scan him for injuries, since the scan that I did only told me he didn't have anything life threatening. I was going to drive him home after we got the glasses.= _Optimus seemed to deflate at his words, unwilling to be angry at him when it was clear he had the human's well being in his best interests.

__Be that as it may, I can't help but worry what will happen when he learns just how important the All Spark was to us._ _Ironhide stayed quiet for a moment as he carefully pondered his words. He wasn't sure if the knowledge would ease Optimus' guilt, or just make it worse.

_=Optimus, when we were driving to Sam's house, Harry asked about the Cube.=_

__What!?__

_=He asked if the Cube was what gave us life. Primus Optimus, the kid knew that if Megatron got his claws on the Cube, we would be fighting a lost war. When I told him that we wouldn't let him get his slaggin' claws on it, or the other Decepticons get it, he just stared at his lap sadly. He knew that we would destroy the All Spark before we would ever let Megatron use it to create an army!=_

__What are you saying Ironhide?__

_=Harry knew, he _knew _what he was doing when he destroyed the Cube. From what I heard Sam telling Mikaela before we left, Harry took the All Spark from him and shoved him out of harm's way. He stopped Sam from destroying the Cube, from being responsible for what will essentially be the extinction of our race. Optimus, he knew what he was doing, the consequences of his actions. He chose to not only destroy the Cube, but to kill Megatron as well.=_

__Primus. How could I have allowed the children to become so involved in our war?__

Staring at the Prime, Ironhide revved his engine in slight anger. This wasn't something the mech could blame himself for and be guilty over. _=Don't Optimus. Sam had the glasses, and Mikaela was with him when the Decepticon attacked him. Like you said earlier, it was an accident that intertwined our fates. Harry made his choice when he asked about the All Spark. He chose to help us fight our war. Don't you dare blame yourself for involving him in our war. If anyone is to blame for involving him, it should be me. I was the one that ran him over. I was the one that brought him to the alley where he learned about us and our war. I was the one that answered his question about the Cube. If blame is to be laid, then it should be placed on me and no one else.=_

__No Ironhide, you are no more at fault than I am.__ Content that he had managed to prevent Optimus from blaming himself for the burden that Harry now bore from destroying the Cube, Ironhide searched for a change of topic, only for Bumblebee to provide it.

"Is it possible for a human to sense Sparks?" Staring at Bumblebee, Ironhide was suddenly very glad that his cab was essentially soundproof as both Ratchet and Optimus spoke rather loudly.

**"What!?!"**

"Is it possible for a human to sense Sparks? When we were driving to Mission City, Harry told me to go faster because, in his words, 'Megatron's no longer a Popsicle.' When Sam asked how he knew, he said that he was able to feel our Sparks. He knew that you and the others were coming before you came into visual range Optimus. Is it possible that he can sense our Sparks?"

"I don't know." The admission from Optimus was a bit surprising. It often seemed as if he knew the answer to everything, or at least had a theory. For him to not know something was rare.

"Hmm, maybe his contact with the All Spark made it possible. We do not know how its energy would effect humans." Ratchet's theory seemed valid, but Ironhide quickly discarded it as he remembered the original scan he had done when he had first met the teen.

"No, I don't think it was because he had contact with the All Spark. Sam, and the humans that worked near it, should have been effected as well. At least, Sam should have because he also held it, and for a longer amount of time than Harry. Ratchet, do a scan to check his vitals."

"Why?"

"Just to confirm a theory, and to see if the scan I had performed hadn't been performed incorrectly." As far as Ironhide was concerned, there were only two possibilities. The scan he had performed had a glitch which caused it to present false information, or Harry had a Spark. And judging by Ratchet's wide optics, it was the latter.

"This can't be right. Ironhide, don't move." Doing as he was told, even though he hadn't been moving to begin with, Ironhide waited for Ratchet to run his scans before speaking.

"Ratchet, does he have a Spark?"

"My scans of his vitals says he does, but how? I don't understand, he is clearly human, but he has a Spark. And it isn't that of a newly onlined Sparkling. The Spark is at least as old as he is. A Sparkling in every sense of the word, but he's almost a human adult. I can't explain it, and every scan I've performed to check his vitals show that he has a Spark."

"If he has a Spark, is that how he is able to sense our Sparks?"

"It's possible Bumblebee. But it is still odd. The ability to feel Sparks without any sort of scanning or sensory program only occurs between a Sparkling and their caregivers, siblings, and Sparkmates. Primes are able to sense the Sparks of others to a certain degree, but not in the same way as those three. I don't think I've ever heard of a mech that wasn't a Prime capable of feeling the Sparks of others that weren't one of those three, not in the way that Harry seems able to. Then again, maybe Harry can sense our Sparks for an entirely different reason than because he has a Spark of his own. We won't know until Harry wakes up and we can question him."

"Which he won't be doing for a while Optimus. His body is recovering from a large shock to his system. It may be because of the energy from the Cube when he combined it with Megatron's Spark. It is possible that his body has shut down to keep itself from being fried while it recovers from the sudden surge of energy. It very well may be several days before he wakes. If he doesn't wake within two days, it would be in his best interest to have him hooked up to an IV and possibly placed in a hospital just in case he takes a turn for the worse."

Staring at Ratchet, Ironhide carefully pondered the teen that was currently sleeping within his cab. "The questions can wait Optimus. It has been quite an ordeal, we should let the youngling rest and recover. We also need to start making preparations of our own. Starscream is still out there, and once he gathers some Decepticons, he'll be back and the slagger will undoubtedly target Harry because he destroyed both the Cube and Megatron. We will need a base, especially if we are to make this world our home."

"You are right Ironhide. We will need a base, and a message will need to be sent out to the others. Until we have made progress in establishing a base, and a message has been sent, our questions for young Harry will have to wait."

**After Mission City**

The questions were going to wait for a long time. When Jazz returned with Sirius, he brought Keller with him, as well as an injured Frenzy restrained in duct tape and what appeared to be chains. Ratchet saw to it that Frenzy lived while Keller asked Optimus for help in moving the Decepticons onto trucks to be transported to a ship that would take them out to be entombed in the deepest trench in the ocean. With Sirius back, Ironhide was free to help him, Jazz, and the newly repaired Bumblebee to move the various mechs onto the waiting trucks in a matter of hours. Ratchet was the left behind to work on Frenzy as well as to watch over Sirius and Harry as they waited in the warehouse they had taken refuge in.

As Keller took care of transporting the Decepticons' remains, the Autobots found themselves settling into an old military base that was currently being used to store old, unused, or broken equipment until it could properly be disposed of. Now it would be converted into the Autobots new base of operations. During that time, Ironhide found himself driving Lennox home, having promised both Sirius and Harry to see the man home safely to his wife and daughter. Bumblebee returned to Tranquility to guard over Sam, as well as Mikaela to a lesser extent. The two teens had been involved and as long as Starscream still lived, they were in danger. Maybe not the same amount of danger as Harry, but still in danger. As for the green-eyed teenager himself, he as well as Sirius, lived on the base with them.

It had been decided that it would be safer for the two to stay. Sirius hadn't objected, and once he had woken after nearly three days of sleeping, Harry hadn't seemed to mind either. With Frenzy alive, the idea for the two humans to stay had nearly been scrapped until Ratchet had stated that the small Decepticon was in a self-induced stasis lock as his system went about ridding itself of the numerous viruses it had acquired while he had roamed the Internet. That combined with the fact that the small Decepticon was secured in a reinforced room had been the deciding factor that it would be safe enough for Sirius and Harry to remain with the Autobots on the base.

"Gentlemen, the President has ordered Sector Seven be terminated and the remains of the dead aliens disposed of. The Laurentian Abyss is seven miles below sea level, deepest place on our planet. The massive depth and pressure there, coupled with subfreezing temperatures, would crush and entomb them, leaving no evidence." His speech given, Keller couldn't wait to get home. He may not be able to take a vacation, but he was going to relax and spend time with his family for a couple of days. After the last seven plus days, he needed it.

It had nearly been little more than a week since Mission City when the Autobots found themselves in Tranquility once again. Ratchet was there to check up on Bumblebee, Jazz had come to help boost Optimus' signal, and Ironhide was taking Sirius and Harry to pick up much needed supplies for the two humans. While Ironhide took Sirius and Harry shopping for supplies, Optimus was finally able to send out a message that would hopefully reach all surviving Autobots that were out there.

_+With the All Spark gone, we cannot return life to our planet. And fate has yielded its reward, a new world to call home. We live among its people now, hiding in plain sight, but watching over them in secret, waiting, protecting. I have witnessed their capacity for courage. And though we are worlds apart, like us, there's more to them than meets the eye. I am Optimus Prime, and I send this message to any surviving Autobots taking refuge among the stars. We are here. We are waiting.+_

* * *

A/N: It's finished! :) Well, that's the last chapter of Barbequed 'Gators. And it's my second completed work of fiction, if I discount the one-shots, since it would be the fourth if I counted those. I would have had this posted yesterday morning, but I got a surprise visit from my grandfather. It was nice seeing him again, especially since he lives across the country at the moment. Anyway, when I tried to post this later in the evening, I wasn't able to upload the document, and I tried until about three in the morning of today before I crashed.  
A quick note about the sequel. It is in the works, and I actually have sketched out a lot of ideas and a few scenes, but I'll still need time to connect everything and flesh it out. So, it will be a while before the sequel is up, and it will be following the general plot of the second movie, but I will put enough twists of my own on it that it will seem extremely different from the movie. I'll make sure that the wait for the sequel is worth it. With just the ideas that I have, as well as a few scenes I've sketched the bare bones of, I can say with confidence that the sequel will at the very least be double the length of this fic. And that isn't including the idea of having a seperate fic that will be a mini series about different events that happen during the two year gap, since the sequel will start two years after Mission City when Sam, and possibly Harry, go off to college. But, that mini series will probably come after the sequel and better explain any flashbacks that I'll have in the sequel.  
Also, quick note about the ending. I know it feels a little rushed, but I spent a good amount of time trying different scenes, but the original one I had just fit the best, even if I tweaked it a little bit. Just so you'll have an idea of what I mean, I'll be posting the original version of Barbequed 'Gators. This was the complete story I had considered posting before I decided to add some scenes and rework a few others. You can call it the bare bones version, and it really is, especially the last two chapters. I'll be posting it as Barbequed 'Gators, The First Cut. I'm rather curious to see what you, the readers, think of it.  
Anyway, I'd like to thank all of my readers and reviewers, especially if you stuck with it until the end. As always, reviews are very much appreciated, they always make me smile. Cookies to all of my readers, and reviewers get brownies too.


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